Just My Imagination
by CaptainSkitzoVamp
Summary: Jack had known her all his life. They had grown up together until she vanished. Now, 15yrs later, what will happen when they meet each other again? Even with enemies? Jack/OC. Name likely to change. Please no Flamers. 1st Pirate fic. Read an Review XD
1. Prologue

**I have been writing Pirate fiction for a while now but I have finally posted one of my stories, I have others in the works but I'd rather have a few chapters finished before I begin posting since it's just easier that way. Enjoy and review please! I have my exams but thanks to my clever thinking, chapter 2 is finished, I shall be updating once a week which will give me plenty of time to work on other chapters and other stories.**

**And without further adieu!**

"Slow down!"

"And I'm supposed to be the poor defenceless girl" a small black haired girl replied, sticking out her tongue as she turned around to face the boy that had just ordered her to slow down.

"We're far enough by now" the boy protested, his brown eyes pleading for the girl to sit down and take a break.

"Don't tell me that the great Jack Sparrow is begging to stop in the middle of his grand adventure" the girl said sarcastically, rolling her eyes to heaven with a smirk on her face.

The pair had recently shoplifted an apple each from one of the stalls in the market place and had been running for the past ten minutes, making sure that they hadn't been caught up with.

"Quiet Bran, or I'll make sure you walk the plank"

"Really, with what ship?"

"With my ship, I shall be a famous Captain and I will be known everywhere, people will hear of my travels and people shall write of me"

"Oh you dreamer" Bran giggled, looking up at Jack as he had jumped around exaggerating sword fights and all sorts of sea related things as he had made his speech of his hopes for the future.

"And what do you plan on doing then?" Jack quipped, looking down at Bran, an all knowing look on his face.

"A bit too early, I don't really want to think about those things just yet, I prefer just going wherever life takes me" Bran said dreamily, lying on the ground, they had reached the top of a grassy hill by now and were trying to get their breath back.

"I wonder if life will make you keep on nicking apples" Jack retorted cheekily, a smirk on his little six year old face.

"Oh, sod off!" Bran giggled, punching him in the arm, before taking a bite out of her apple.

* * *

><p>"Damnit Sparrow, could you have any worse of an aim?" Bran muttered angrily, scrubbing at the floor angrily with her brush.<p>

An eleven year old Jack and Bran were currently on their knees, scrubbing the wooden floor as punishment for Jack breaking a church window. They had been playing a ball game and had ended up having an argument, only for Jack to try and throw the ball at Bran, just as she ducked out of the way. The stained glass, which had had a picture St Brendan, ended up being smashed, the multi coloured pieces of glass strewn across the church floor. There had been no time to run as the priest had been standing by the entrance talking to old Mrs Sophia, an Italian woman who had moved to Shipwreck Cove nearly fifty years ago after she had married her husband who had been a pirate until his death fifteen years ago. She was a strict catholic and was always seen with some sort of shawl and was never without her hair tied back into a tight bun.  
>She had let out one of the loudest yelps that either of the children had ever heard. The priest had run immediately over to the side of the church to find the window broken and the two culprits staring back at him with wide eyes. Jack had considered running but he knew that it would be no use seeing as the priest had seen him and knew his mother well, so there would be no getting away with it. Why Bran had stayed, he couldn't fathom.<p>

So here they were, on their knees in the aisle between the pews of the church. Scrubbing away viciously at the floor, well that was what Bran was doing, Jack was going about things half heartedly. He didn't even try to defend himself. What he _did_ say was, "Why didn't you run?"

"I wasn't about to let you wind up with, God only knows what, kind of punishment, you needed an eyes witness, and I'll admit that it was sort of my fault, we didn't have that much time to run away _and_ don't forget that I have a cousin training to be a priest."

"But what about you being the girl that took no poppycock from anyone?" Jack couldn't help but ask.

"I'll have to wait until I get out of this hell hole, or until Tom finishes his priest training"

"I HEAR TALKING" called a voice from the sacristy.

Jack and Bran huffed, before getting back to work. "So you _are _planning on leaving this place" Jack whispered in amusement.

"Oh shut it Sparrow" Bran snapped, but smirking regardless.  
>Yes, Jack thought, she is definitely one of the best friends that he had ever had, a friend for life.<p>

* * *

><p>Yesterday had been fun. A sixteen year old Jack and Bran had gone to the beach in search of shells and a good time. They had snuck bottles of rum along with them and had a few laughs.<br>People still took the mick out of Jack for being friends with a girl, but they never took it too far, knowing that he wasn't afraid to throw a punch.

That wasn't the only thing that had happened yesterday. For the first time in their years of friendship, Jack had actually _looked_ at Bran. He saw the woman that she had become, the way the sun made her hair shine, how her eyes lit up when she smiled or laughed. And in that instant he had realised that he didn't want to spend a day without her. This feeling was completely new to him and he didn't know what it was called, but he _did_ know that he wanted to see her today.

He knocked on the door of her ram-shackled house, he had admittedly never been inside and he never tried to force her, he knew that her mother was a bit odd and her father wasn't the most sociable of men to be around, yet she was always up for anything that Jack had in mind. But when he knocked there was no answer, no rushing noises coming from the other room, no 'just a minute', nothing.

After a few minutes, Brannagh opened the door looking upset, "I'm sorry Jack, but I can't talk to you today, I have to go"

"Did a relative die?" Jack asked, curiosity getting the best of him, causing Brannagh to leave out a feeble giggle. She sadly shook her head 'no'.

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you, I need to go, I'm sorry"

"Fine! You obviously don't want me knowing, you used to tell me everything" and with that, Jack stormed off, thinking that he hoped he'd never see her again, leaving Brannagh with tears in her eyes watching him as he stalked away.

* * *

><p>The present day Captain Jack Sparrow awoke, his head resting on his desk near an almost empty bottle of rum. He groaned as he sat up, resenting the fact that he had been dreaming of his past, and if there was anything that Jack Sparrow wanted to forget, it was his childhood. To this day he still didn't know what was going on with Brannagh, after their little encounter he had never seen or heard from her again. He remembered calling to her house everyday for the next week, trying to apologize, but she hadn't been there, or ever again for that matter.<br>On the seventh day, one of the neighbours had told him that they had heard screaming and shouting coming from the house. So that was all that Jack had had to go on, screaming and shouting and a missing friend, but it wasn't only _her_ that had gone missing, her mother and siblings had disappeared also. Her father seemed angry at first but after a day or two, he had gone back to normal, as if nothing had happened which Jack could not understand.

The sound of clashing swords pulled him from his reverie so he stood up, throwing on his coat and grabbing his hat on the way out.

On deck, he watched as his crew fought against the crew of the ship that had pulled up beside them. Jacks eyes narrowed, he had left Gibbs in charge, so where was the scallywag? He pulled out his sword and began hacking his way through crewmen as they lunged at him. The fight raged on for nearly an hour but eventually the crew of the Black Pearl triumphed over their enemies and began to search their opponents ship for any goods they could salvage, such as rum and gold.  
>Jack had to admit that it was a good start to his day, rum always brightened up the day.<p>

"Cap'n" called Gibbs, the first time Jack had seen him all day, he was lucky that they had gotten more rum out of this, otherwise there would have been hell to pay.

"Aye, Gibbs"

"There be a prisoner on the other ship, she be in the brig"

"'She' you say?"

"Aye Cap'n, 'she'"

"Well then, bring her aboard, enemies of my enemies are certainly friends" Jack smirked, heading back towards his cabin, eager for a victory drink.

* * *

><p>A while later, there was a knock on the door before Gibbs entered, "Cap'n the lass is on-board as ordered, we gave her what clothes we could find, she be sittin' in the galley." he said, a fearful look in his eyes, obviously because of the fact that there was a woman on board, the last time he had sailed with a woman, the ship had been blown up and he didn't necessarily want a repeat of that.<p>

Jack stood up, eager to meet this mystery woman, if she was in the brig, she certainly wasn't a wench so what had this intriguing female done to land herself in a brig?

Gibbs walked up to the helm as Jack went below deck to the galley in search of the woman.  
>When he stepped inside he didn't see anyone sitting down though, he walked further into the room keeping an eye out for anyone, until he heard the door close behind him.<p>

"Well well well, so did the dreamer turn out to be psychic?" came a teasing voice from behind him.

_I know that accent,_ thought Jack, as he turned around on his heels to locks eyes with the green ones by the door.

"Brannagh?"

**Like it or hate it? I know that it's short but it's just a prologue. The other chapters are way longer, trust me.**

**I'd love to hear from you! Put please, no flamers!**

**All you need to do is press that button. ;)**


	2. Better Not Be Up To Something

**Chapter Two!**

**Yes, it has finally arrived, thank you to all of you lovely reviewers by the way, you're stars! I got impatient and just said 'I might not be able to update Saturday so hand it over now. You Absolute legends!  
>I still have exams *sad face.<strong>

**Anyhow! Enjoy and Review Pleasseee!**

http:(slash)(slash)www(dot)facebook(dot)com(slash)pages(Slash)CaptainSkitzoVamp(Slash)102197676519335?sk=info -my writers page for facebook, to keep up with any updates and fanart.

**Rainbow-socks-girlie: **_Thanks you so much for your lovely review. Don't worry, updates are once a week I promise._

**Flik: **_Aw thanks, I was just hit with the idea of a young Jack with a friend and then I was like 'it's hard to find good OC stories sometimes so I might as well make his friend a girl' and thus, the story was born! Thanks again for your review!_

**Tokioparawhore: **_I will continue it don't worry, I'm finished chapter 4 already :P I'll have to put a guard dog under my bed ;)_

**Trickypirate12: **_Girl power! I figured that if Jacks old best friend was a girl, she would probably be able to put him in his place which is a rare enough sight to behold ;) Thank you for your review!_

**MienFacade: **_I wasn't able to write pages and pages of flashbacks to be honest, and I didn't want an over the top prologue .You'll have to wait and see what happens next and luckily for you, this is a new chapter! XD Thanks for the review!_

**ILuvOdie: **_I love your name. It reminds me of Garfield. This isn't going to follow the movie plot I'm sorry. I don't think that I would be able to write out all the lines and plan out where my OC would butt in, especially with her not being a character from the future and knowing what everyone is going to say and when etc etc. This is based after At Worlds End and I don't think that there will be any Fountain of Youth, sorry. But thanks for your review!_

**If anyone has any ideas by the way, I'd love to hear them!**

"Hey Jack, you haven't changed a bit…well…apart from a few extra trinkets and a beard" the woman across from him smirked.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, eyes wide as he watched her move away from the door to take a seat, grabbing an apple on the way. He couldn't believe that she was actually here, how did she get here, why was she here.

"You told the crew to let me on-board, remember silly?" she said with a smile, the same twinkle in her eye as before.

"It's been fifteen years, where have you been?" Jack asked, taking a step forward, absent mindedly taking a seat across from her. His eyes not leaving her as he moved, he thought that maybe if he blinked or looked away, she would disappear and he didn't want to lose her after this amount of time, and certainly not without an explanation.

"Oh you know, around. You said that you were going to be an infamous captain and here you are. I said that I was going to leave that hell hole and I did. I bartered passage wherever I could, saw some of the world, I swear, you'd love Crete, everywhere you go is nothing but booze"

Jack couldn't help but notice that she was avoiding the subject as to _why_ she had left before; she was barely even looking him in the eye, so he felt as if he needed to ask.

"Why did you leave in the first place, why didn't you stay, why didn't you even tell me?"

"I wasn't allowed" came the reply, her voice had gone quiet and Jack couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows in confusion.

"But-"

"I don't want to talk about it okay?"

There was an uncomfortable silence, the pair not saying a word, Brannagh stopped eating and looked down, studying her apple as Jack observed her. Jack was never one for silence and he was sure that she would talk in her own time, so he decided to steer the conversation in another direction. "So, any news from Tom? Did he finish that training of his in the end? I was only thinking of that little window scenario earlier"

Brannagh chuckled and looked up at him with a smile, "Sent away on the missions I believe, he finished his training and was trying to convince my brother into joining the priesthood the last time I met up with any of them."

"What, Kyle? You can't be serious luv, the bloke wouldn't give up his drink and his women, you must be yanking my chain"

"I said that Tom was trying to _convince_ him, not that he was succeeding"

"And when was the last time you saw them?"

"Around two years ago, Ma passed away and we all met each other at the funeral" Brannagh replied, her eyes distant, looking away from the man across from her.  
>"I'm sorry"<p>

"Nah, you're grand, she died happy, she was sleeping when it happened, so she didn't feel a thing…But enough about me, how about your folks?"

"Haven't seen them to be honest, last time I saw Da was … probably before that war against Jones and the Company. We didn't really say much"

Brannagh laughed, "Same old Jack, you haven't changed a bit"  
>"What about your father, any news on him?"<br>The grin left the woman's face and she looked back at her apple, "I don't know, I haven't seen him, not since we left"

"He drank himself into a stupor after that, couldn't necessarily blame the poor bugger, but a day or two afterwards and he was right as rain, oddly enough" Jack said, remembering the man at the tavern, he pulled a funny face at the memory, momentarily forgetting his old friends presence. She laughed at him, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Oh yes, definitely the Jack that I remember." She giggled. Her giggles quickly turned into full blown laughter. Jack gave her a quizzical look which only made her laugh even harder, "Stop it" she choked, "Cut it out!" she cried.

"What? What am I doing?" he asked in alarm, he didn't plan on having a woman choke to death on-board his ship any time soon.

"Stop making funny faces!"

"I am not….you cheeky monkey" he said, getting up and reaching across the table to tickle her, causing her to laugh even more.

"Stop, stop, I surrender, stop, white flag, ha ha ha, PARLAY…please!" she half laughed, half cried.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but did Brannagh O' Rourke just invoke the right of parlay? I must be hearing things. Me hearing ain't what it used to be luv so you're going to have to repeat yourself" he said as he stopped tickling.

"Oh heave off"

"Alright then, you asked for it" he replied, before going back to tickling her, it was just like the old times. He had only ever wanted to see her happy and this was certainly better than an awkward silence or a refusal to talk about the past. She tried to hit him away but he dodged, only to trip over the bench and fall onto the ground, dragging Brannagh down with him.

She landed on top of him, her breath coming fast and uneven after laughing so hard and their little struggle. He still had his arms around her while Brannagh looked him over, he certainly had changed, yet remained the same. He stilled had the same mannerisms, speech and odd sense of fashion but now he had more muscle than before, he had a beard and his hair was much longer, Brannagh thought, taking him in. She also noticed how he had finally acquired the 'perfect hat' that he had always gone on about at home.

Home. Where was that now? They said that home was where the heart was, where was her heart at this very moment? It couldn't be with the man underneath her because they had only met up after fifteen years today!

She kept her eyes fixed upon his brown orbs, she bet that they had seen a lot during the fifteen years they had been apart. She was upset that she hadn't been there with him, but she had had to go. She felt guilty for not telling him why she had been forced to leave, but she had to do what her mother had told her to do. He had seen the war, it had been his ship that had fought the Dutchman, she had heard the stories from the sailors at the taverns when she had served them rum during one of her temporary positions as a bar maid. He had certainly amounted to great things, just as he always said he would.

Oh how she had missed him, she loved being with him again. He always had a way about him that could light up a room the moment he set foot inside it. He was her best friend, he deserved to know the truth, but how could she tell him. He would probably understand but he would probably speak of 'what if' scenario's too. Oh he was always a nutcase, but he was _her_ nutcase. She giggled as she looked down at him.

"What is so funny this time, luv" he asked, feigning annoyance.

"You're such a nutcase" she replied truthfully, getting up and brushing the dirt from her shirt. Jack remained on the floor just looking up at her, taking in her full appearance he found that she was wearing woman's black pants, white shirt with a black corset and black heeled boots, she had a silver belt around her waist with a sword and pistol attached and a black waist coat with silver embroidery. He noticed how much she had filled out during their time away from each other and for a quick instant he wondered if she had had a man in her life during those fifteen years. He felt a bit of jealousy and resentment at the idea of another man with his paws all over her. She deserved better than some filthy low life.

"Nut case eh?"

She giggled at him, "Don't worry Sparrow, I love ye anyway" she smirked, offering him a hand to pull him up to his feet which he accepted. He smirked back at her.

"Well, if that be the case, you wouldn't mind if I told you that there are no more places for you to sleep apart from my cabin, unless you prefer the brig"

"So we are going to have a repeat of that camping trip from when we were twelve then? Your da looked half ready to hammer ye! I swear, all we did was talk, and if memory serves me correct, the adults were the ones to pair us up in the first place!"

Jack smirked at the memory. His father, along with two other men had been put in charge of a camping trip and Brannagh, being the tom boy that she was, had tagged along. And knowing that Jack wouldn't have acted any differently towards her, Teague had partnered his son up with her. They had ended up babbling all night, only to be shouted at by Captain Sparrow Sr.

"Well, I think that this time we won't be roared at, come on, I'll show you to the cabin" Jack grabbed Brannagh by the hand and led her up the stairs onto the deck and pulled her towards his cabin. If he had known that he would be running into his old childhood friend, he may have cleaned up but he knew that she probably knew him best and wouldn't care about the mess. She was probably as bad as him.  
>She looked around the room taking it all in and swiping the bottle of rum from his desk. He smiled at the scene, she was definitely as bad as him. She took a swig as she went over to the window and peered out, the sky was darkening by now, the sun setting.<p>

"Beautiful" she whispered, as she watched the water turning a dark red, the sky the colors of pink, gold and red bleeding into each other as the sun began to sink into the horizon.

"I know, best room on the entire ship I say, now if you don't mind, I need to go and assign someone to relieve the poor bugger up at the crows nest, be back in a tick luv" and with that Jack was gone, leaving Brannagh alone. She pulled off her boots, belt and waistcoat and climbed into bed, crawling underneath the covers. She honestly didn't think that she would be in this position when she woke up in the brig this morning. She couldn't help but smirk as she dozed off into sweet unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>When Jack had come back that night to find Bran fast asleep, he couldn't help but smile. He wasn't going to let her get away without telling him anything though, she <em>would<em> tell him one way or another.

Most blokes have to wait to get a lass into their bed, I have to wait to get a back story, he thought as he took the opposite side of the bed, but it ain't like that is it? We're just friends, just good friends, that's it. Bran isn't a fool, and she wouldn't even take me if I asked, I bet she knows about the women in my past. What is it that everyone says? A woman at each port?

The next day had started off fine. Brannagh had woken up before her friend had, which gave her plenty of time to have breakfast and try to get to know the crew. Before long she had learned that Cotton was a mute and that Gibbs felt threatened by her presence, but she could tell that he really liked her as a person, he was just superstitious, she talked to him for a while about other types of superstitions such as it being bad luck to have banana's, red heads, flat footed people and priests aboard and also how it was bad luck to kill a gull while at sea. Before long he had obviously begun to warm up to her since she knew that she was talking about. It was nice to have a woman with brains on-board.

She had met a few other members such as Marty, who seemed nice enough, Ragetti seemed nice too but Pintel seemed as if she would have to really take her time with getting to know him.

"And what do you think you're doing?" came a voice from the helm. Brannagh looked up to see Jack eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh nothing" the woman replied, walking towards him, "Just getting to know the crew"

"Knowing the crew eh? Anyone else would say you were up to something. Not planning a mutiny I hope, or you'll find yerself in a brig again"

"Oh no! How could you think such a thing Captain, poor little defenceless me? Never!" Brannagh replied, feigning innocence as she placed a hand over her chest.

"Fitting in well then, I take it"

"Most definitely, we should all just have a drinking competition though, it would move the formalities along much faster" she joked, her hand trying to shield the sun from her eyes as the wind blew her black hair in all directions.

"So, you never _did_ tell me how you wound up in that brig, care to share your story?"

Brannagh couldn't help but smile and decided to sit on the railing, her back against the deck full of crewmen so she could face Jack as he steered the ship.

"I may have…tried to pickpocket from the wrong person" she replied nonchalantly.

"Losing our touch are we?" Jack teased, glancing at her before looking back out to sea.

"Ah go away, the bloke caught me and threw me into the brig, damn cur", she muttered at the last bit. Jack couldn't help but chuckle, she still had the mouth of a sailor, then again who didn't when they had grown up in Shipwreck Cove?

"So what have you been at exactly? Fifteen years, you must have done something" he said, trying to pry information out of her.  
>"Port to port, work here, job there. I traveled mostly"<p>

"Ah come on, it's me yer talkin' to, give me something"

"Well I'm sorry Captain if my story hasn't been as interesting as yours" Brannagh mocked.

"I just find it hard to believe that a lass such as yourself hasn't gone on a big adventure in the fifteen years ye've been gone"

"I just went from country to country, learned about new cultures…might have made new enemies, but you'd know all about that wouldn't you Jack?" she replied, earning another glance from the Captain.

"What are you going on about this time?" he asked with a fake anger in his voice. They had always been this way, if there was ever anyone in the world that would stand up to him or try to put him in his place, it was definitely the woman next to him.

"I heard about your little war against Beckett and Jones, and then there was Sao Feng and Barbossa, Oh and wasn't there that bloke from-"

"I get it, I get it…I've got people on my side as well though, you said it yerself, ye love me anyway"

Brannagh just rolled her eyes at his antics. Typical Jack Sparrow, she thought, always trying to talk his ways out of sticky situations. It reminded her of the time his mother came after him over something he had done at home, which he had yet to tell her, he had been literally backed into a wall, his mother with her wooden spoon in hand while glaring at him. She had been shouting to high the heavens. His mother had been a tough woman with a soft side. She always approved of Brannagh but knew exactly how to give her son hell if he were to place one toe out of line. He had actually gotten away with it that time, he had ended up turning his mothers wrath around and directing into the path of his father.

"Don't let it go to your head you cheeky bugger, some people can get along and some can't, that's life, now if you'll excuse me, I think I'd fancy some rum right now, want anything?" she asked, getting up from the rail and turning to head down the stairs. He shook his head in response and she disappeared down below to quench her thirst.

It was incredibly rare to find a woman with a love for rum, but she had grown up with pirates. He remembered the time that they had been taken away to a different port when they were eight. His father had wanted to trade some of his swag and had let Brannagh tag along as Jack always went with him. The port had been inhabited by higher class people and all wrinkled their nose when they saw that Brannagh was wearing boys clothing and hadn't acted like a lady at all. They had all expected her to stand up straight and proper like a young lady should, with her hair neatly tied up, a corset and a dress, not saying a word while being accompanied by an older relative. Instead Bran had worn her long messy black hair down while wearing pants, wandering around on her own, constantly babbling and going to punch him in the shoulder. His father had merely laughed at them and returned to business while they bickered and messed about. A man working at one of the stalls had given them a piece of toffee each for free, saying that it was nice to finally see children acting like children for once.

Yes Brannagh had never been one for lady like behavior, but she _did_ have a knack for imitating the upper-class people perfectly. She could wrinkle her nose and feign the accent as if she had been brought up as a downright snob.

Life on the Pearl was certainly about to get interesting.

* * *

><p>"Bran, meet Ana Maria, Ana this is our newest member" Jack introduced the two women, hoping that they wouldn't wind up pulling out each others hair. Neither woman shook hands or said a word, instead looking at each other emotionlessly.<p>

"Okay then" Jack said, trying to relieve some of the tension, only to decide on running away after learning that he wasn't doing anything to help. "Bye". He ran off towards the helm, not wanting to get caught the middle of a war zone. Sometimes woman could be like dogs, dead territorial. Jack smirked at the idea of Brannagh being territorial over him, he had had a few women fight over him in his day and it made his chest swell with pride but it would certainly be odd if it were Brannagh doing the fighting, but amusing all the same, he knew that Ana Maria wouldn't waste her breath though, she didn't like him that way…but then again, neither did Bran, if he told her about his little day dream about her being territorial over him she would just wave him off and say that he was just 'acting the twat'.

He looked over to see how the women were reacting to each other and was a bit disappointed to find that the two women had gone off in separate directions. Ana Maria had gone to one side of the ship, tying down ropes and going about what needed to be done, while Brannagh had gone below deck with a mop and bucket, probably going to swab around the galley or the brig.

As the day progressed he had decided to go to Greece, just as Bran had suggested to him the night before. He didn't been there for years and in all the times that he had went, he had never once considered going to visit the island of Crete. Something told him that Brannagh would be a handy person to have around the ship.

* * *

><p>"So, what do you think about the new crewmember?" one of the crewmen, known as Thornton, asked. He was a middle aged man with dark curly hair and pale blue eyes.<br>The crewmen were sitting around their sleeping quarters drinking rum and playing cards for the night and were currently discussing the arrival of the ships latest recruit.

"Came from the brig from that last ship, the Captain seems happy enough with her, they seem a bit close though, one of the fellas said that they saw her coming out of his cabin this morning" replied a man named Woody, no one knew his real name but they just called him Woody seeing as he had had a bit of a run in with a wooden rail a few years ago. He was a skinny man and had light blonde hair and dark grey eyes, filled with curiosity.  
>"You don't think she was hired as a wench do you? I heard about ship wenches, I hear it's meant to be nothing but trouble" Thornton replied, a bit sketchy about the whole thing., forever the pessimist.<p>

"Royal flush, I win" a third man declared, taking up his winnings and pocketing them. Brown was a young cocky man with dark brown hair and cunning hazel eyes, "We'll never know until we try now, won't we and I don't know about you but I'm feeling a bit lucky.", he smirked, before winking to the men and getting up, leaving the room and the two men behind, looking after him as he went.

"He's a dead man" Thornton said, watching the door.

"Aye, if she was with the Captain, then everyone knows to keep their paws off unless he says otherwise." Woody agreed, shuffling the cards and dealing them out again, just as Walker walked into the room. The blue eyed, balding man sat down in the chair that Brown had recently occupied and clapped his hands together, "So lads, what'd I miss?"

* * *

><p>Brannagh had finished swabbing below deck ages ago and decided on cooking something in the galley out of sheer boredom. She wasn't the best cook in the world but she knew how to <em>not<em> poison someone. She couldn't work up on deck for fear or running into Ana Maria, and as confident as she was in a fight against the dark skinned woman, she couldn't be bothered getting caught up in a fight on her first day, especially when the crew still had yet to know her.

Something about Ana had just put her off, there was something in her eyes, a coldness. It was just some sixth sense that Brannagh figured every female must have and that by one glance, she could tell if she would get along with another person, or if they were even nice.

The pots and pans were filthy, so the young woman began to wash before she even cooked, which was odd seeing as that was meant to come _after _cooking. Everything was so backwards, but then again this was Jack Sparrow's ship.

She heard the door open and close and looked up from the pots and pans to see a man standing there looking for her. His dark eyes watching her hungrily, which unnerved her to no end.

"Can I help you?" she asked, a bit coldly, he was looking at her as if she were a piece of meat. He began to move closely towards her, making her feel more uncomfortable so she grabbed a nearby knife from the counter behind her. The dark haired man put each hand on the counter behind her, trapping Brannagh as he did so.

"What do you want" she spat, she couldn't contain her anger, she knew what he was after and she wasn't a common whore, she might as well teach him that lesson the hard way. As soon as he went to touch her, she slapped his hand away, making him angry. He roughly grabbed her by her shirt and crashed his lips onto hers roughly. Brannagh didn't scream but she struggled and ended up plunging the knife that she had been holding onto, straight into his shoulder. The man jumped back with a shriek and yanked the knife from his shoulder. "You bloody cow!" he roared, running at her with the knife, but she was to quick for him and grabbed his arm, twisting it and holding it behind his back, ready to break it if she had too. He dropped the knife and began to pant as he began to panic, this woman had not been what he had expected. He tried to move away but she merely tightened her grip on his arm, causing his to yelp out in pain. She punched him in the face out of anger and began to drag him up onto the deck towards the helm, knowing that Jack would know exactly what to do with him.

She threw him to the ground as soon as she reached the helm, looking at the captain expectantly, while he just looked at the man on the ground and back at her again.

"Having a spot of trouble luv?" he asked with a smirk, he knew that she could take care of herself.

"A little, what do we do with this bugger?" she asked, hands on her hips. She demanded that something be done about this, if this little prat wasn't punished then what would that tell the rest of the crew? For a second she wondered how Ana Maria put up with this.

"Mr Gibbs" Jack called to the man behind him.

"Aye, Cap'n"

"Take Brown here down to the brig"

"Aye sir" the older man replied, and with that he lifted up the man, known as Brown (who was also sporting a split lip by now) and led him down to the brig.

"That's it, take him to the brig? If that your solution to everything?" Brannagh turned angrily at Jack, she was barely able to prevent herself from screaming at him.

"Well he didn't get away with anything, you saw to that" Jack said in his defense.

"But what if I hadn't been able to? What then? What does this tell the crew? He thought I was a bloody wench! What if someone else tries it, or he gets out."  
>"And <em>I'm<em> the one with the enemies" Jack smirked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Not now Sparrow! If you won't take care of things then I will" she threatened.

"Look here now lass, this is _my_ ship, therefore what I say goes, and you will be doing nothing of the sort. Do ye get me?" Jack turned to her, a serious look in his eyes.

"Oh sod off!" Brannagh cried in exasperation, throwing her hands into the air before storming off down the stairs, heading towards the store room. Just as she reached her destination, a hand caught her by the arm and she quickly turned around, ready to fight anyone who may have been trying to copy their little friend that was in the brig.

Brannagh was shocked to see that it was Ana that had caught her.

"I'm sorry about earlier, I passed judgment and I shouldn't have" she said, a look of guilt in her eyes. Brannagh looked at her, seeing the truth in her words, she gave her a small smile and signaled for her to follow her into the store room. Once inside she pulled out two bottles of rum and handed one to the other woman. Both of them took a seat on one of the crates and looked down at their drinks.

"It's my fault too, I didn't really _try_ to strike up conversation or anything" Brannagh said to the woman across from her.

"No, it's me, it was all me. I thought that you were some weakling that we would have to drag everywhere. But after seeing what you did to Brown _and_ seeing you stand up to the captain like that, I see that you are the complete opposite. And I'm sorry for stereotyping you like that. I promise that it will never happen again."

"Apology accepted, and its okay about the whole standing up to the captain thing, he won't mind, we go back years. This whole thing will be forgotten about before dinner. Although I did mean what I said about taking care of that creep meself"

Ana saw the dark look on Brannaghs face and decided to change their conversation topic. "Well let's start again shall we, Hello, my name is Ana Maria" she declared, offering her hand.

"Hello Ana, I'm Brannagh, it is a pleasure to meet you" Bran replied with a fake posh London accent, while accepting her new friends outstretched hand. Ana laughed and shook her hand before turning back to her rum and taking a swig.

"So how long have you known the captain exactly?" Ana asked, curious about her new found friend, she peered over at her and took in the black hair, slightly tanned skin and vibrant green eyes.

"All our lives really, I grew up with the bugger, he's grand really once you get to know him. We got up to all kinds of mischief. I'm surprised we weren't kicked out of the place"

Ana laughed, she couldn't imagine a young Jack Sparrow, and when ever she tried, she just saw a five year old with a bandana and tonnes of trinkets. And Ana highly doubted that he had had dreadlocks at the age of five. This woman, Brannagh, must have a lot of dirt on him, some of which, she could probably use to her advantage, but she could tell that Brannagh was loyal, maybe if she got a few rums in her, she might speak.

"Well then," she smiled at Bran, "Here's to history" she toasted, before knocking back some more rum.

* * *

><p>Jack was getting worried now, he knew that Brannagh had been serious when she had made her threat and he hadn't seen her for hours. He put Cotton in charge of the helm and decided to go and look for her, heading down the steps from the helm and going below deck. He heard cheering and went to follow it. It seemed to be coming from one of the store rooms so he walked over to it and pushed the door open to find half of his crew cheering on someone that was in the middle of the crowd. He began to push the men aside to find out who was causing all the men to cheer so loudly. Since it was night, he didn't mind as much as he would have if it were day time when all the men were supposed to be up on deck going about their chores.<p>

He finally reached the middle of the crowd to see Brannagh chugging back a bottle of rum, Ana coaxing her into finishing.

"Oi, what do you all think you're playing at!" he roared at the crew, silencing them all, "Well, what are you waiting for, get going you dogs!" The men ran out of the room as fast as they could, handing each other money from their bets as they went.

Ana was the only one who remained in the room, a stubborn look on her face, "You too" Jack barked, waving towards the door, an annoyed look on his face.

Once Ana had left, Jack turned around to see a tipsy Bran, she was swaying on her feet and looked about ready to fall over at any time. Jack walked over to her and put his arm around her waist, trying to support her as he led her out of the room, back towards his cabin.

"Jackie" she drawled, as he led her inside and tried to close the door without letting go of her. She hadn't called him that in years, it was a bit strange to hear it from her again after all this time, but seeing as she was drunk he may as well play along.

"Yes Bran-Bran? What is it?" he asked, as he lay her down on the bed, trying to remove her boots as she lay back and stared at the ceiling, her hands reached out in front her like a baby in a crib.

"I'm sorry"

"Why… what did you do? You better not have killed that cur in me brig" he warned.

"No…I'm sorry for being such a cow. And I didn't hurt that cur, but I want to, I promised Ma that I would"

"What are you talking about. Do you know him?" Jack asked curiously, covering the drunken woman with the emerald green blankets.

"No, I don't. But I promised my mother that I wouldn't let a man try to touch me like that and get away with it."

"Well I doubt he will be getting away with it, seeing as he is in the brig, and you _did_ almost break the poor buggers arm off, not to mention the split lip"

"I promised her Jackie, and I always keep my promises" she whispered as she tried to snuggle up closer to him as he sat beside her on the bed.

"I know darlin' , I know…I still don't get why you didn't run that time I broke the window though"

"You needed me to be there, so I stayed" she whispered finally. Jacks eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What is she on about, he thought as he looked down at her to find her fast asleep.

_I bet Ana has something to do with this_, _I bet Bran probably drank half of me friggin supply while she was at it_.

* * *

><p>Brannagh groaned in pain as she rolled over, her head throbbing from all of the alcohol she had consumed the night before. The light streaming into the room was making her eyes burn so she quickly closed them and rolled over again, her back to the windows and tossing a pillow over her head. She heard the cabin door open but didn't move, it was probably Jack and he, of all people, should know the pain of a hangover.<p>

She heard him chuckle and felt the bed as it sank on one side, obviously meaning that he was sitting on it.

"Here luv, I knew you'd be needing this, from what I hear, you drank quiet a bit" he said to her, as she began to remove the pillow and looked up to see him handing her a mug.

"What is it?"

"Don't worry, just drink it. You'll feel better. I should know"

She took it from him, if he was anyone else she would have either refused or continued to pester them until they told her what was in the mug, but seeing as it was Jack she knocked it back.

He watched her intently as she knocked back the contents of the mug as if it were water and tried not to laugh when she began to choke.

"Coffee" she spluttered, "This is coffee"

"Course it is, what did you think you'd be getting, more rum?" Jack retorted sarcastically.

"That would be nice actually" Brannagh shot back, sticking out her tongue at him.

"Oh you are so mature" Jack said, keeping up with the sarcasm.

"I know! And you are _so_ normal" Bran snapped, picking up on his mood.

"Yes I know I am. After all I _am_ the infamous, intellectual, dashing Captain Jack Sparrow ain't I luv?"

Brannagh rolled her eyes at him, "No, you're the idiot that set fire to the shed by the inn". Jack couldn't help but pull a face at that statement. It hadn't been _his_ fault, he wasn't the one that had put all of that hay there in the first place.

"Hey, that wasn't my doing and you know it"

"Really? Keep telling yourself that"

"Oi, I'm being serious"

"Pfft, yeah" the hung-over woman scoffed, "You're as serious as Hairy Harry at the pub on a Friday night"

"Alright that's it" Jack said, exasperated, and grabbing the nearest pillow, he whacked Brannagh over the head with it, causing her to yelp in surprise and pain.

"Jesus Sparrow, Not the head!" she cried, grabbing her own pillow and hitting him with it as compensation.

"You were asking for it and you know it"

Brannagh just stuck her tongue out at him again and hit him with the pillow. And so the pillow war raged on. Jack noticed how they were acting like a bunch of children again, everyone knew him as odd, but mature...well perhaps mature wasn't the best word to use per say, but he was definitely known to _not_ act like a child. But with Bran he was young again, he had pillow fights with her and bickered, as she stuck out her tongue and let out nonsensical comebacks and remarks. It was as if they were children again and the past fifteen years had never happened. They had their own world together and he wasn't an important pirate captain, just as she hadn't been found in a brig for pick-pocketing. They had their own world that best friends had, with inside jokes and code words. It was as if they were sneaking away from their lessons again and were trying to steal an apple at the nearby market for lunch.

In no time, the cabin was covered in down feathers and the pillows were in tatters, both adults collapsing on the floor and sitting with their backs against the bed trying to catch their breath.

"Bugger" they said in unison, looking at each other and laughing.

"Sorry Jack"

Jack rolled his eyes at her, "And what should you be sorry about this time luv?"

"Sorry about your pillows, I'd say that I would pay for new ones but seeing as I was locked up for stealing, I'm obviously broke, I'm sure that you can afford it though, an intellectual bloke like ye"

"Oh so I'm smart _now_ am I?"

"Nah, you're intellectual, not smart"

"And what would the difference be there luv?" he asked, watching her as she got up and tried to shake some of the feathers from her raven black hair.

"Well" she began, edging closer towards the door with a mischievous grin on her face, "Smart is brainy, intellectual is thinking and acting as if you are brainy, when you're really not" she said, before running quickly out the door, leaving Jack alone with his thoughts and millions of feathers. It took him a minute to decipher her words.

"Oi!"

* * *

><p>"I hope he wasn't too angry, I bet he is blaming me for everything. I'll admit that I was sort of handing you the drink, I'm sorry if I got a bit carried away. It's just that we've never had anyone who has the amount of dirt on Jack Sparrow that you do. I bet you've even seen him cry" Ana said, as she stood next to Brannagh on deck, tying down ropes and going about her chores. Bran had decided to permanently take up the job as a swabber and was currently cleaning a spot near Ana for the past fifteen minutes while she spoke to her friend and tried to look as if she were doing something, any more scrubbing and she was sure that she would seeing her reflection in the wood.<p>

"It's okay, I understand, trust me if I were in your position I would have done the exact same thing and I'm glad that you understand why I'm not saying anything. Jack's a good friend you know and I wouldn't want to betray him or anything, especially after the mutiny, well that and the fact that he has enough dirt to use against me as well" Brannagh replied, a smirk on her face.

"At least you're not angry with me, you're so much better than the last girl I had to sail with" Ana shuddered, "She was a bit too perfect and then ordered everyone around as if she had been sailing all her life, at one stage I pointed a gun at her and tried to hand her over to Barbossa but it didn't really work out"

"When was this?"

"Oh, ages ago, back when Jack went to get the Pearl back after the mutiny"

"You mean the run in with that cursed gold on Isla de Muerta?"

"Aye, how'd you know?"

"Oh, I've done me homework, people talk at the taverns, especially when they're drunk. I did my homework and listened to everyone as they traded stories that they had heard about Jack. I didn't want to be kept out of the loop, Jack is an old friend and I was curious to know about what he was getting up to. The thing is, Jack Sparrow may not _always_ go looking for trouble but trouble always comes looking for Jack Sparrow."

"So what was it like, growing up in Shipwreck Cove I mean, what's it like actually living there as a child. What're the people like, did you meet Jacks family?"

"The place is big enough, you should see the island itself …its big enough to hide if you are running from anyone else that lives there, I suppose. And as for the family bit, of course I bloody met them. Who _hasn't _met his da?"

"So what were you doing before you were thrown into that brig? You have yet to explain"

Brannagh stopped what she was doing and looked up at Ana, "Well, I hadn't found a job yet and needed the money, so I was pick pocketing and selling things on the black market. I was picked up in Boston. And was stuck in that brig until you lot came along and took me out of that shit hole"

"So what were ye doing in Boston?"

"Just traveling, wandering from place to place"

"So where have you been so far?"

"I don't know really, many places. I've yet to see a few places though" Brannagh replied, going back to swabbing.

"Where would you like to go next?"

"Erm…I've always wanted to see Morocco and Sicily. And Turkey, I hear that's meant to be nice. I'd like to see more of the New World though. Actually, I have yet to see Italy, I was only there for a night once when I was on the run, but I never got to actually explore the place"

"Someone certainly gets around" Ana laughed, Bran smirked and went to poke Ana with the mop, soaking her with water. Both of them began laughing at one another until they got a call from the helm. "Oi, you two, knock it off!"

Brannagh merely rolled her eyes at the sound of Jacks voice but stopped what she was doing anyway. She decided to take a break and left the mop and bucket by the railing before heading up to the helm to pester Jack for a bit.

"So, you never did tell me, what was I sorry about? This morning you said that I was sorry _again_, what did you mean by that?" she asked, taking her usual place at the railing, overlooking the ship with her back to the crew and her body facing the ships captain. She was thankful that she had found a brown bandana to keep the hair from her eyes, seeing as the wind was strong today and she didn't feel like having to be pulling her hair from her eyes.

"Last night, you said something about promising something to yer mum, was all"

"What?" Brannagh whispered, her eyes widening. Oh God, what else did I say to him last night, she thought worriedly.

"Something about, not allowing a man to hurt you, or something or other. You weren't making much sense luv"

Brannagh mentally scoffed at the thought of a drunken Brannagh not making sense to the great Jack Sparrow who was always drunk and never made sense himself.

"I don't know what I was saying. I must have really been plastered." Was all she could say, she hated lying to him but she _was_ planning on telling him the truth soon enough. It was just hard for her. What had happened, had ruined her life and not only hers but that of her family as well. She knew that he would understand but…ugh, why did things have to be so damn complicated?

"I better get back to work" she said, turning to leave.

"Wait!"

Brannagh turned around to face her new captain again, "Yes?"

"Who put you on swabbing duty?"

Brannagh gave him a cheeky grin, "I did, of course" giving him a look as if it were obvious. She turned around again and walked down the steps, going back to her mop and bucket, not noticing the smirk on Jacks face.

* * *

><p>Brannagh had tried to think about anything but her conversation with Jack. She was terrified that she had let something slip, was he getting suspicious now?<br>She sighed in frustration as she scrubbed the plate in her hands.

Why did she have to get drunk? Especially after what had happened in this very room? It was stupid, stupid stupid stupid, she thought to herself, hitting her head off of the wooden cupboard above her.

Dinner had been quite an event. The crew had gone on about how amazed they were at how she was able to hold her drink. They couldn't believe that she had still been standing at the end of the night. Ana was a bit quiet during dinner, still feeling a little guilty but Brannagh had managed to cheer her up saying that if it weren't for Ana, the crew wouldn't be so taken with her, even Pintel was complementing the woman.  
>Jack hadn't been at dinner, he was always a picky eater anyway so she knew that he would come down to the galley in his own time.<p>

Brannagh was currently in the middle of doing the dishes, trying to take her mind off of today, besides she doubted that anyone else would do it, the thought making her nose wrinkle in disgust, a rare occurrence for her. What was she going to do? Thank God she didn't talk in her sleep; she would definitely be in trouble then. Then again she was known to have sleep walked before.

"What's going on?" came a voice from the doorway, a voice which was easily recognized.

Brannagh didn't turn around as she heard Jack walk towards her, his trinkets clinking off of one another and his boots making noise against the wooden floor. She didn't say anything either, as he placed both his hands on her shoulders and forced her to turn around and look at him.

"Look, I know that you don't want to talk about why you left, and I ain't gonna push you. But what is up with you today?"

Brannagh didn't know that to say as she stared at her shoes, unable to meet his eyes. They used to be so close. She felt a hand under her chin, lifting up her face to look at him and she couldn't help but stare back. He hadn't done anything. Neither had she for that matter, but he didn't deserve this.

"Come on Bran, we used to tell each other everything, it's not like we had a fight and refused to see each other again" Jack coaxed, trying not to wince as he remembered thinking about how he never wanted to see her again that day fifteen years ago.

"I've just been thinking about the past. And I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to tell you what was going on. I was scared, we all were" Brannagh said, trying to hold back tears but feeling her eyes well up. "You shouldn't have to be putting up with this, I'm so sorry"

"Will ye do me a favor luv?" he asked gently, his eyes warm. She nodded and watched as he smirked down at her, "Stop apologizing"

Brannagh looked up at him confused.

"You apologized twice this morning and you were even pissed out of yer head, give it a rest, I know that you don't mean harm to anyone…'cept maybe that bloke in the brig"

Brannagh couldn't help but giggle when he said that, her hands going to her mouth as she did so, but it didn't last and before long she was crying. Jack couldn't stop himself pull her into a hug when she did that. What had happened to her all those years ago? And what was she hiding, he thought, as she sobbed into his chest.

* * *

><p><strong>Et Voila!<strong>

**There you have it! The chapter you were all waiting for. And you know what is a great way of thanking the author? *Whispers* 'It's reviews. PRESS THE BUTTON PLEASE! Or I'll take Jacks rum and blame you ;)**

Capt. Skitz xxx**  
><strong>


	3. Back Story

**As promised, you're once a week update;) Sorry that this was so long, I'm thinking of cutting chapters a bit shorter, but only with you guys giving the go ahead first!  
>So here you go!<strong>

It had been a week since Brannaghs breakdown and everything was running along quite smoothly. She was in the middle of one of the books she had taken down from the shelf in Jacks cabin. She hadn't read the book in a few years and was happy to finally relax and have some time to herself with a bit of rum. But trying to find some quiet time on a ship captained by Jack Sparrow was like trying to ask a dog not to bark. It just couldn't happen.

Jack walked into the room with a huge grin on his face, obviously pleased with himself. "Good news luv, we should be heading into port tomorrow morning"

Brannagh looked up at him with a genuine smile on her face, she had been onboard the Pearl for around a month and was eager to see a bit of land. Well that and the fact that she loved trying to get her land legs back, she found it one of the most funniest things she had ever come across. She knew that Jack swayed and swaggered wherever he went but most people put that down to rum. Although she had a sneaky suspicion that it had something to do with the fact that he had been born on a pirate ship, so he was really born with sea legs and not land ones, like most people. She bet that his first steps were probably at sea too.

"Stocking up? Are you planning on a long voyage?" Brannagh asked curiously, standing up and going over to him.

"Well you could say..."

"What...where are we going?"

Jack didn't reply and she couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at how he was toying with her. She smirked at him, getting closer, before prodding him in the neck. "Oi watch it", he tried to slap her away but she was too fast and also had the advantage of being a head smaller, so she ducked just in time to poke him in the neck again.

"Not until I find out where we are going" she replied, going to poke him again. He was laughing by now although he was also clearly annoyed. "I know you inside out Sparrow, I know exactly how to make you squirm, it's why you put up with me. Admit it"

"Oh knock it off" he said, finally managing to grab her hand attempting to throw her off of him but she ended up losing her balance and falling, this time she was the one to drag him down with him landing on top of her. "Yes, I only have you as a friend because you would be one hell of an enemy, happy?"

"Very" she replied with a smile, looking up at him.

"And also, milady, for your information, we have decided to take your advice into account and are heading to Crete, if you must know"

"And would this _we_ happen to be the voices in your head?" she teased, her hands by her head as she looked up at him. Both his arms were on either side of her so she wouldn't be crushed underneath his weight.

"You cheeky devil"

"Oh what are ye going to do, tickle me to death" she said sarcastically.

"It's a possibility"

"Oh please"

"It's not impossible" Jack said in a defensive voice.

Brannagh just scoffed and replied, "Yeah, just improbable"

"Typical Bran"

"Same old Jack"

"We haven't changed a bit have we luv?"

"Apart from age, the decrease in maturity levels and the odd scrape here and there, I wouldn't think so"

Jack smirked down at her in amusement. He looked her over, watching her wide green eyes as they looked back at him, her small almost doll-like lips, the light tan that she had. Even though they had grown up in the Caribbean she still had a thing for getting sun burned, he still didn't understand that quirk about her.

He stood up, offering her his hand which she took without hesitation.

"Greece…I'm honoured that I have an infamous captain taking my views into account" she mock curtsied.

"Aye milady, now if ye don't mind, I need to get back to work"

"You know, for a fella that was so laid back and such a big slacker, it's hard to believe that you wound up in a position of such responsibility" Brannagh said, following him out of the cabin and up to the helm.

"Well that's what first mates are for" Jack replied, not looking at her and heading towards the wheel.

Brannagh merely took her usual place at the railing and watched him as he gazed out at the horizon. After a few minutes it began to unnerve him though, "What?" he asked, still not looking at her.

"How did we get here Jack? What happened to the two teenagers nicking bottles of rum and hiding out at the beach" she asked gently, he could hear the smile in her voice.

"I don't know, one left and the other ran off shortly after."

Brannagh let the mention of her disappearance fly over her head, as she was more intrigued as to what he had said after that, "What do you mean 'ran off shortly after'. Did you run away from home?"

"Well I wasn't goin' to benefit from staying at home now, was I?" he replied, pulling out a bottle from only God knows where.

"Where did you go?"

Great, Jack thought, she's taking the bait. He had gotten it into his head that if he had shared some of his history with her, she might finally explain why she had left. "Started off around Tortuga and ran into a lass at a tavern" he began.

Brannagh didn't know why, but she had a slight feeling of jealousy at the mention of this woman. Not just because Jack had found one, but the fact that it sounded as if she had been replaced, not to mention that this mystery girl had been able to see Jack and accompany him on his travels when she wasn't able to, she learned once Jack continued his story about sailing off on an abandoned boat. She laughed at the part where he declared himself captain though. It was just like him to do something like that. She knew that he wasn't embellishing anything because she knew that he knew she'd just be able to see right through him. She knew when he lied, which was extremely rare to find in a person once it concerned Captain Jack Sparrow but he also knew that she wouldn't push him to talk and would drop a topic is he didn't want to say anything, just as he had done with her when she refused to talk about her past all those times.

He told her about his travels and how he had encountered sirens, witches and all other manners of strange people.

They spent the rest of the day like that, discussing anything and everything under the sun like they used to, although most of it was just Jack boasting about his travels.

"And then they made me their chief" he was in the middle of saying before a call from the crows nest interrupted them.

"Ship ahead!"

Everyone dropped what they were doing and all turned to look at Jack, which Brannagh found highly amusing, she wasn't used to seeing Jack at such a high level of authority, pirate or not. She watched as he pulled out his telescope and examined the ship in front of them.

"Make ready the cannons, prepare for battle!"

"Oh, yay. Haven't had one of those in a while, last time I was too busy being locked up" Brannagh commented as she watched everyone running around.

Gibbs ran down below deck to help load the cannons, while Ana joined Thornton in getting the guns ready.

"Bran, go down to my cabin and stay there" Jack ordered, looking her in the eye, this knuckles almost turning white from gripping the stokes of the wheel so tightly.

"No thanks, I think I'll stay here thanks, but I appreciate the concern" she replied, unfazed by his seriousness.

"It's not a suggestion, it's an order!"

"Well you're going to have to make me!" Brannagh protested stubbornly, refusing point blank to miss this raid.

"Fine then" Jack replied as equally stubborn. He grabbed her by her forearm and dragged her down the stairs towards his cabin.

"Oi" Brannagh objected, "Let go of me, get those piratey paws off me, hey!"  
>She was pushed into the room and instantly turned around to take a swipe at the man who had put her inside, only to have the door slammed in her face, accompanied by the sound of a click of a lock. She ran up to the door and instantly began banging on the wood of the door and trying the handle even though she knew that it was locked.<p>

"Bloody scallywag" she muttered, going over to the windows. Damn it, why does the captain's cabin have to be at the back of the ship, I can't see the other bloody ship, thought Bran angrily.

She heard the sound of shouting and cannon fire and almost fell down from the collision, as the Pearl rocked from the cannon fire.

"To hell with this" said Bran to herself, going back over to the door, trying to figure out a way out when she got an idea. If he can do his hair like that and nicks stuff from men and women, he should have…aha!, Bran thought to herself, routing through chests and drawers and pulling out a silver hairpin.

_Trust it to be Jack_

She returned to the door once more, pin in hand, and put it into the lock, her heart jumping when she felt someone get thrown against the door followed by a roar.  
>Bran returned to her task of opening the door, fiddling with the pin in the lock until she finally heard the click she had been hoping for. She placed the pin in her hair with a smirk, knowing that Jack wouldn't miss it, unless of course there was something he wasn't telling her which she highly doubted, and flung the door open, hand on her sword. What she saw was pure and utter chaos, just the way she liked it. Without hesitation she unsheathed her sword and ran into an attacker, immediately joining the fight. She wasn't bloodthirsty or vicious, but she loved the adrenaline rush that a fight brought, she hadn't been part of one in a very long time. This was actually her first fight that she had been in where Jack had been with her. When they were younger if Jacks father's ship was attacked, they would be sent below and would usually play chess or some other boring game while they heard the roaring from above. She remembered the time they were playing cards by the window and had witnessed as a man fell from the side of the ship. He had been from the enemy ship so they had just laughed and returned to their game.<p>

"Bran!" she heard her name being called and stabbed her opponent before turning to the person that had called her, to see a very angry looking Jack in the middle of fending off two pirates. "What the bloody hell do you think yer doin' here!"

Bran rolled her eyes at him as she ran to his aid, taking one of the pirates off his hands. "Well I'm _not_ helping you, that's for sure" she replied sarcastically.

"Get back in the cabin!"

"No!"

"Bran, go now!"

"Look Sparrow, if you think that you can tell me what to do, ye got another thing comin'!"

It was the captains turn to roll his eyes as he took a swipe at his opponent. Bran was after taking hers down and was currently parrying with another older looking pirate. Figuring that he wouldn't be able to shoot the stubborn woman beside him, yet wanting to shoot something, he pulled out his pistol and shot the man that she was fighting with. Bran turned to him with a look on her face as if to say 'hey' and said ,"Oh real mature!", but she also muttered her thanks before disappearing to another part of the ship, leaving Jack on his own.

_That woman is going to be the death of me_

* * *

><p>The fighting had been going on for half an hour and the Pearl seemed to be having the upper hand. No wonder it was such a well known and feared ship when it was not only the fastest ship on the ocean, but also had such a well trained crew. Brannagh had watched as Ana Maria took down five big men on her own. Gibbs even looked as if he were bored at one point!<p>

Eventually the opposing side raised a white flag, the survivors of the battle returning to their ship but not without handing over their swag first. They knew that they were going to die if they didn't call a truce, they had been stupid to try and go up against the Black Pearl in the first place and they knew that now.

The men hadn't had time to collect their dead, they were in such a rush to get away. Jack was standing on the deck, ordering everyone about. Ana Maria had gone to take care of the new cargo they had taken and Brannagh was standing beside the captain once again, waiting for him to turn on her for escaping and going against his orders, wondering if he would be scary. The only time he ever shouted at her was either out of good fun or he was just…not intimidating seeing as he was only a kid like she had been.

She noticed movement on the ground in her peripheral vision and turned her head to see what it was but her focus was quickly taken when Jack finally decided to address her, "What do you think you were doing, you could have gotten yerself killed"

"Well I wasn't, I'm insulted that you don't think I can take care of meself. You, of all people, should know that I am perfectly able to defend myself. Isn't that runt in the brig proof enough?" That was when she saw it, only now it wasn't movement, it was a man with a knife who must have been playing dead and he was coming this way, trying to take a swipe at Jack. The man was on his knees and Brannagh had no time to shout and instead pushed her friend out of the way, causing him to fall to the floor, her landing on top of him. She felt a sharp pain in her leg as she landed on top of Jack, a gunshot ringing out throughout the ship. Brannagh tried not to cry or scream out in pain as the pain shot through her leg, it was like a white hot searing pain had spread throughout her leg. It was absolutely agonizing.

She looked around to see that the man had fallen down in a heap, a pool of blood around his head. She looked up to see that Jack was on his elbow, his pistol in his other hand and pointing it at the man on the ground, smoke still coming out of it. He had a deadly look in his narrowed eyes. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Jack finally decided that it was time to get up, Brannagh went to get off of him but winced from the pain in her leg which caught his attention. He sat up and looked her over, noticing the blood coming from her leg. He went to touch it but she hissed in pain. Not certain about what to do, he picked her up bridal style, only for her to slap him on the chest and protest, "Oi put me down pirate boy! I can walk you know, it's just a graze"

He prevented himself from rolling his eyes but put her down anyway, keeping a firm hand around her waist in case anything were to happen. It took her less than three steps and she was already falling but, thanks to Jack, she stayed standing. When she went to walk again, Jack finally let out an agitated sigh and threw her over his shoulder.

"Hey, put me down! I can do it! I can…hop, on one foot" she said smugly, crossing her arms but he couldn't see. The crew that remained on deck were finding this highly amusing though, each of them wearing some sort of grin or smirk at Brannaghs discomfort at being man-handled by their captain.

"Come on let me down…please" she begged.

Jack laughed but quickly stopped and said quiet seriously, "No…no chance. You lass, are going to go to the cabin and you are going to stay put"

"I don't know the meaning of this word 'stay', explain it to me" she replied childishly.

Once inside the cabin she was placed gently on the bed before Jack turned around to get some gauze and rum. He pulled a chair over beside the bed and got to work on Brannaghs leg.

"So tell me luv, how exactly did you escape the confines me cabin?" Jack asked curiously, trying to focus her attention on anything but the pain of her injury.

"Not that hard, but I'm hardly going to tell you, I need to be able to get out when you try to pull something like that you twat" she smirked at him, as he cleaned the wound.

"I only did that for your safety and you know it. I want you alive, at least until you tell me a few things" Jack retorted cheekily, still not meeting her eyes. He felt her watching him though she knew that she was watching him intently.

"Like what" she tested, folding her arms across her chest, a look of obliviousness to the pain in her leg, even though she felt it stinging her.

"Like how on Gods green Earth did you wind up with a name like Brannagh?"

"Oh sod off"

"No I'm serious luv, in my twenty nine years of knowin' ye, I still haven't heard the reason"

"Oh come on, I only moved to Shipwreck Cove when we were two, I bet you can remember the women gossiping, knowing you and yer amazing memory"

"Actually I don't, besides, me mother used ta kick me out of the room when 'adult conversation' as she called it, was going on"

"When Ma was four she moved over to the New World from Ireland, that's why whenever she got angry you couldn't understand what she was saying"

"Ah, so did she just like the name or did she know someone else by the name and decided to name you after them then?"

"Dunno to be honest with ye, me parents met as teenagers and that's the furthest that she ever told me about her history"

"What, that's it?"

"That's it"

Jack finished up cleaning the cut and frowned, finally looking up to see Brannagh, "Sorry, luv but it's going to need stitches"

Brannagh couldn't help but swear under her breath, she hated stitches. Jack noticed her discomfort and tried to pry her attention from her leg again.

"I have to hand it to ye luv, you still amaze me"

"Aw thanks…so, how did you wind up with your name?" she asked, catching onto what he was trying to do and deciding to go along with it.

" Me mother ran into a spot of bother one day and ended up running into a bloke with the name, a month later I get me name"

"What kind of trouble?"

"Well, when I asked I was only a young fella at the time so she just said that she was being chased, but I think that she was trying to cover something up"

"At least you have more of a story to you, I'm just…me"

"I like yer name though luv, it suits ye, strong and independent"

"Actually it means something along the lines of 'Dark One' or 'Raven One'…hang on I know this one…erm…Raven! Yes that's it, it's something to do with raven hair and my mother decided to stick the name on me when I was born because of my hair, I know why I got the name. I just don't fully know where she pulled it out of"

Brannagh felt thankful towards the pirate beside her for trying to take her attention away from her leg. She hadn't felt the needle as it had pierced her skin at all and was relieved to see that the stitching was finally finished. Jack was reapplying the rum before he bandaged her up.

"You do know that this doesn't mean that I'm going to stay put. I'll try to take it slow, but I'm still going to be moving around and there is no stopping me" Brannagh warned Jack, pointing a finger in his direction. With the way her brows were furrowed, it was obvious to see that she was in a joking mood but was serious about still going around. It wasn't necessarily a threat but when Brannagh O' Rourke made a threat, she stuck to it. Jack sighed but carried on with the conversation anyway.

"So why do you have your mothers surname and not your da's?" he asked, picking up the gauze and trying to lift her leg without disturbing the stitches.

"Well, they weren't married at the time actually, they only tied the knot when I was one, I was an unexpected arrival"

Jack chuckled at the way she said that, it was like a matter of fact tone yet a 'that's life' touch at the same time.

"C'est la vie, I suppose"

"You speak French now?"

"I picked up a little bit when I was in Brittany that time"

"When were you in France?"

"Around eight years ago, why?"

"I was in France eight years ago, what time of year were you there?"

"I was there for eighteen months"

"Funny 'ol world innit? I was in the same country as you and none of us even knew it"

"Well I heard of a great fight in Paris raging between Captain Chevalle and some bloke named Sparrow so I decided to check it out, but by the time I left, wasn't the prat after running off?"

Jack laughed, he hadn't laughed this much before he met up with her again, he had had his fun but he hadn't laughed as much that was for certain.

"Sorry luv, but he did make some valid threats"

"So you hopped onboard the fastest ship, in probably the whole world, and ran off. Why aren't I surprised?" she teased, a smirk on her face. Jack smirking back at her.

* * *

><p>He didn't like it, he didn't like it one bit. He watched as Brannagh swabbed the deck, standing near Ana Maria. She had been taking it slow, as promised, and he was grateful for that. Brannagh always kept to her word, and if she didn't, it was always with good reason. He could see that the women were talking quietly among themselves and let them at it since he noticed that they were doing their work. Brannagh could be a sneaky one and he knew it. She would take a chance or dare something, one of the few women that he had come across with that quality, but out of the all of the women, Brannagh still managed to stand out among the rest. He smirked to himself; she was stubborn, daring and was someone that would take no hesitation in putting him into his place or standing up to him. Ana Maria may scream at him on the rare occasion but Brannagh would take the mick out of him or punch him. And he knew that she would be a hell of a lot worse than those Tortuga wenches, he knew that from experience.<p>

He looked out at the horizon reflecting on the time that she had been on his ship and thought of how he was delighted that the crew were finally warming up to her. They saw how she could stand up for herself; wield a sword, not to mention the fact that she had saved their captains life. He admired her for doing that; she hadn't wasted anytime on words and had just pushed him out of the way, hurting herself in the process. Then again, don't they say that actions speak louder than words? Technically speaking the mark on her leg was practically his and not hers. That knife had been meant for him, she had merely pushed him away, but for that one moment he felt something when she landed on top of him, a feeling that he hadn't felt in years. It was the feeling that he had gotten that time after the beach, after he had witnessed her and taken her fully into account. And even after fifteen years he _still _didn't know what the bloody hell it was, which frustrated him to no end. Brannagh had saved his life and he was touched at the thought of her saving his life like that, especially after he had locked her away from the fight. But how was he feeling about her now, in general?

_Bloody women, no wonder Gibbs thinks they're bad luck_

* * *

><p>"So what did he say then?"<p>

"He let the whole thing drop, he knows that he can't contain me like some animal and he knows that I will rip his head off like one if he ever tries to pull something like that again" Brannagh said, determined on removing a piece of grime from the deck.

"Just like that?" Ana questioned, obviously unable to believe what Brannagh had just said.

They were, once again, talking while working. The crew spoke anyway but Ana knew that if a conversation got too loud, the people speaking would be killed, metaphorically of course, she knew that Jack understood that he didn't run a quiet ship and he would be an idiot if he thought he did, sure half the time you couldn't get him to shut up himself!

"Hey Ana lass, could ye do us a favour and go below deck to sort out those two idiots below, Johnson and Hudson are at it again" Gibbs said, appearing behind Brannagh. He knew that Ana Maria would be just the person to sort those two out; she could easily scare anyone with a voice as loud as hers. Ana nodded and went to see what was going on, leaving Brannagh and Gibbs alone to talk.

"So lass, you're here around a month now, if not more. How are you finding life on the Pearl?" he asked, taking over Ana's job for her until she returned.

"My favourite ship to serve on so far Mr Gibbs, thank you for asking. And how are you this fine afternoon?"

"I'm fine lass, how's the leg?"

"Well, it's not as sore, and I can stand so that's definitely a good sign eh?"

"Aye, it be a good sign alright"

"So what is going on below deck?" Brannagh asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well lass, the boys down below are idiots, they fight over nothing really and to be quiet honest, I don't think that anyone knows what they fight about" he replied, matter of factly, before tying down a rope and wandering off to another part of the ship.

"Strange, strange ship" Brannagh muttered to herself, getting back to swabbing.

"My ship happens to be just fine" a voice said from behind her. Once again she didn't need to know who it was, she knew that it was Jack immediately, but she still refused to turn around so she kept her back to him and just replied, "Really? I always thought that a ship and its crew usually reflected on its captain"

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It probably means that you are one colourful sheep"

"And since when am I a sheep"

"It's a figure of speech Jack"

"Yeah, you were always an odd one when it came to that sort of stuff"

"Not as odd as you" Brannagh teased, a smirk on her face as she kept her eyes on the floor.

"How about we both agree that we are both colourful fish and call it quits hmm?"

"Oh so I'm a fish now? And how is that different to a sheep?"

"Easy luv, sheep can't breathe underwater"

"Well a fish can't breathe on land, or eat grass for that matter, or help make clothes"

"Hey-"

"Face it, my sheep analysis is better, besides, I highly doubt that you can breathe under water or live in it for that matter, you may say that you live at sea but you still can't say that you live _in_ it"

"You're just not going to let this drop are you?"

"Nope"

"Well fine then...if you need me, I'm at the wheel" Jack said, turning to leave.

"Aye aye Captain...pfft, fish" he heard her mutter to herself. He couldn't help but smirk despite himself.

* * *

><p>Time went on and the crew finally reached Crete. They were lucky that they got there when they did because the supplies had been running dangerously low, considering they had restocked at port shortly after the battle that Brannagh had injured her leg in. By now she was just limping but Jack was still weary if she fell over.<p>

There wasn't a cloud to be seen on the island or in the Mediterranean for that matter. The sun was shining and there was nothing but happiness and contentment in the air. The waves were crystal blue but once you looked down into the water, you could see the fish and other forms of wildlife beneath the waves.

"Oh look Jack! A multi-colored _fish_" Brannagh pointed out, looking over the side of the ship while standing near Jack up at the helm, earning herself an elbow to the ribs.

"Oh shut up you, I'll lock you in the brig"

"Aw, poor Jack, can't lock little 'ol me into the brig" Brannagh replied smugly with a grin.

"Oh really luv, and why is that?"

"Because that perve Brown is still down there for one, and you know that I will do a hell of a lot worse than just kick his teeth in. And then there is the fact of me escaping to consider"

"Oh really, escaping?"

"Aye, escaping, I mean if I managed to get out of the cabin that time when you locked it, do you honestly trust me in yer brig?"

"Well correct me if I'm wrong luv, but weren't you in that other fella's brig when we found you"

"That you did, but why would I want to escape when I was getting free passage to wherever they were going to be docking?"

"At the risk of being hung?"

"For pick-pocketing? Please Jack"

"You never know luv, I've seen it happen before"

"Really?"

"Aye, you know in some countries they actually chop your hand clean off" he said, looking down at her, an eyebrow raised in pride of his knowledge.

"Well it's not necessarily that clean if there is blood now is it? I've always found that figure of speech quite hypocritical"  
>"Know it all" Jack muttered, now being the time for Brannagh to elbow him.<p>

"Come on luv, we're going to be docking now" Jack said gently, grabbing the elbow that he had been poked with and leading Brannagh away from the railing.

* * *

><p>"You aren't even from the Cove, ye weren't born there"<p>

"Eh, says the fella himself, sure neither were you! Hypocrite"

"I was there before you"

"So? What difference does it make if you were there first, does it make it your territory or something? You're not a dog, but if I ever get one, I'll be sure to name it after you, don't worry"

Jack frowned at Brannaghs statement, remembering that annoying little pest that Barbossa had.

They were currently walking down the market place near the sea. Brannagh could see all of the white washed houses on the hills of the island, overlooking the clear blue waters.

The road was dusty and on either side were numerous amounts of stalls with men shouting out in Greek and English.

There were goats and all manners of animals and there were loads of people but not too many to crowd the place.

"So what did you do exactly when you came here last time?" Jack asked, leading Brannagh through the market, her arm looped with his.

"Honestly?"

"Aye honestly" Jack smirked, "Or do I want to know?"

"I got drunk, mostly"

"Either that was great practise for you nearly drinking all me rum or it's because of your mum and her neck of the woods"

Brannagh merely rolled her eyes at him, keeping her eyes ahead of her, "Oh please"

"No, I'm serious luv! I once saw this small Irish bloke drink a monster of a man under the table, honestly!"

"Well did you take the time to think that perhaps the smaller man was an alcoholic or just accustomed to drinking?"

She had caught him there and she knew it. And he knew that she knew it too. She smiled smugly at how she had cornered him there.

"Well...maybe the big fella was after drinking more before he started"

"Either way, you probably lost your bet"

"Wait...how did you know?"

"Because I know you Jack Sparrow and I can read you like a book"

"And don't you go taking that for granted luv, there are hundreds of people that would kill for that talent, even me own parents"

"And knowing you, why am I not surprised" Brannagh teased, "Now, come on, all this speaking of alcohol is making me thirsty." She declared, leading him away from the market place and down an alleyway.

She dragged him through all of the back roads and alleyways with ease, it was as if she knew it like the back of her hand, which she probably did. She had always had a knack for navigation. In no time they had come across a secluded looking tavern but that was probably because it was broad daylight. Jack bet that once the sun set, all manners of sailors and pirates alike would gather inside for their rum.

Brannagh didn't even knock and just walked inside.

"Oi Christo!" she called, jumping in shock against Jack as a man appeared from behind the bar.

"Ah Brannagh" he greeted, his arms outstretched towards her.

"Christoforo" she replied, mirroring his smile.

"And who have you with you, by the Gods, welcome to my tavern Captain Sparrow" he declared, looking as if he were tempted to bow. Brannagh noticed her companion's smug grin at the man's welcome and knew that it was practically stroking his ego.

"It's been too long, can we have two rums when you're ready there, Christo?" she said, trying to get a bit of chatter going and claiming a stool at the bar. The bar itself looked as if it were made entirely out of wood and she could see where patches were made in the ceiling and walls.

"It's good to see you again young Bran" Christo declared, a sparkle in his blue eyes. He was a medium sized man with white hair and tanned skin. He reminded Brannagh a lot of Gibbs actually, only the Greek version.

Jack took a seat beside Brannagh and took his rum without a word, looking around the place before taking a sip.

"Last I saw you, you were engaged" Christo said happily towards Brannagh, causing Jack to effectively choke on his rum. He began to cough and splutter all over the counter, Christo looking at him in concern.

"Are you okay Captain, would you like something else, is the drink not to your liking?"

Jack just ignored him and turned straight to Brannagh, "You were engaged?"  
>He couldn't believe it. Brannagh, the girl that didn't ever go out with boys, had been engaged.<p>

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later"

"You bloody better" he replied, wide eyes telling her that she most definitely would. He didn't want to have an argument here in front of Christo. He seemed to like him from what he had probably heard and Jack wasn't too keen on making enemies so soon after docking. Give it a week at least to begin making enemies.

"So where have you been?" Christo asked, trying to get back to talking with his old friend.

"You know me Chris, I don't plan these things out, I don't believe in that sort of thing" Brannagh replied, raising her mug to him before taking a sip, her other hand holding her chin as she rested her elbow on the counter.

"I see that the goddess Aphrodite is still with you" Christo complimented.

"Ah go away" Brannagh said, letting go of her mug and waving his comment away, her eyes closed as she smirked, a blush creeping onto her cheeks, which Jack couldn't help but stare at. It had been years since he had last seen her blush.

* * *

><p>"I'm not drunk" Brannagh protested, almost stumbling into a closed up stall but being held back by Jack, who secured a firm hand around her waist to keep her from getting into any trouble. He hadn't drunk as much as her, being too interested in her conversation with Christoforo. For once in his life, he had just sat there and listened, not saying a word, and not even drinking as much.<p>

He learned of how Brannagh used to work for Christoforo and had helped rid him of a few unwanted customers. He seemed quite fond of her but in a fatherly sort of fashion, which made Jack instantly like the man, well for that _and_ the free rum he had to admit.

"Look, I have some of me marbles, so you can let go"

"Not until we get ye back to the Pearl luv"

Brannagh huffed like a small stubborn child, a pout on her lips, "Fine". Jack half expected her to fold her hands across her chest but she was having enough trouble trying to balance as she could. He had to admit that he had been impressed by how much rum she had been able to stand; she could easily have out drunken half of his crew, which was amazing for a first time crew member. Although he knew that she wasn't new to rum itself, he had been with her the first time she drank it _and_ the first time she had gotten plastered out of her head.

Eventually they arrived aboard the Pearl and Jack got to putting his drunken friend to bed. Once she was tucked in, he sat beside her in bed and draped an arm across her shoulders, thinking that now was the best time to get information out of her.

"So luv, you were engaged" he began. She simply moaned in response.

"And who was this man may I ask?" he tried again.

"The biggest cur that ever lived" Brannagh replied, snuggling up to him, her eyes closed but he could tell that she was wide awake by her breathing.

"Doesn't sound like you luv"

"At first I was with him so I could rob him, but then he started acting nice and I just got roped in, he showed his true colours in the end" she murmured against him.

"Did you love him?"

"Mweh, I don't know. I'm not big on the love thing"

"Why not?"

"Because of my own parents, I didn't necessarily have the best role models when it came to relationships"

"What do you mean luv?" Jack asked, looking down at her, this had been the first he'd heard about it.

"They fought a lot and Da got violent"

"Did he hurt you?"

"At first it was just Ma, but then he began to go through us, it's why we left"

"What?"

"Oh yeah, we were running away from him, he drank way too much and Mum thought it best to just get us out of there while she could. That's why I couldn't tell you. I'm sorry for that by the way but I was sworn to secrecy, if anything had gotten out we would have been caught. I trust you Jack, but we couldn't risk being over heard"

Jack took this moment to stop and think. So this had been the noise that the neighbour had spoken of. It all made sense now, how her father drank at the inn and forgot about everything easily.

"I'm sorry luv" He said, before he began to feel her shake and grabbed her by the chin to raise her head up to him but she had her eyes closed. He could still see her tears.

"How can love exist?" She asked, "How can it exist when it's meant to be about protecting the people that you care about, they said that they loved each other and look how that turned out. It ruined so many people's lives. We were separated for fifteen years; it was only by sheer luck that I found you again. And what about Bethany? My sister was so excited to finally start her first lesson at Shipwreck Cove and she didn't get to. Her dreams and hopes were shattered." She sobbed, finally opening her eyes to look at him.

"Not all relationships are like that luv, my folks killed each other all the time and they are still together, after putting up with a hell raiser like meself" he joked, trying to get her to smile again. She had smirked for a second but it had disappeared as soon as it had come.

"If I was never born, would they have been happier? Would Dad have not turned to drink and become abusive? Would Mum have married herself off to a proper man? Would her kids get to go to lessons without a worry? Would be mother have died happy?"

"Trust me, she died happy, knowing that you were all with her and safe, that's all she wanted" Jack said gently, pulling her back towards him and brushing stray hair from her face. In no time she was fast asleep, leaving Jack alone with his thoughts.

So she had left because she was running from a drunken abusive father. Why hadn't he thought of it sooner? All of the signs had been there, the noise, not setting a foot inside the house, her father always in the local tavern or inn. He felt guilty for not copping onto it and he felt even worse for not figuring it out sooner. He finally understood how hard it must have been for her and regretted what he had said to her before he had run off.

She had also spoken about how love was protecting those who you cared about and she had taken a knife for him. Not only that but she had said that she trusted him. Did she love him, like that? And what was that mystery emotion that had resurfaced that he couldn't put a name to? Was _that_ love? Did _he_ love her?

* * *

><p>Brannagh woke up once again to a bad head ache and rolled over in the bed. She opened one eye to see that the room was still dark but the bed was empty which meant that the curtains had probably been closed, curtsy of Jack no doubt. She spied a mug on the night stand, much like the last one from when she last had a hangover.<p>

She had just taken her first sips when her eyes bolted open and she nearly dropped the mug.

"Oh God" she breathed to herself, her eyes wide open in horror.

What had she done? How could she have been so stupid? It was that damned rum, why did she have to drink so much? Now Jack knew about the engagement _and_ her father.

Stupid stupid stupid, began to roll around in her head as she fell back onto the bed and tried to punch the pillows.

"Oi you, the last time you had a hangover, I had to get those replaced" came Jacks voice from the doorway. Brannagh froze in shock, unable to move. What was she going to do? Was he going to bring it up?

Okay, she thought, I won't say anything unless he brings it up...or unless he treats me different, then I'll scream at him and maybe give him a slap on the back of the head. Brannagh made this mental agreement with herself before turning around to see Jack watching her.

"Sorry"

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop saying that luv?"

Brannagh watched him step closer towards her, trying to decide on whether or not he was giving her special treatment. "So-", she began, before stopping herself and instead saying, "I'm hung-over" she finally said, "Give me a break"

She heard Jack chuckle as he walked up beside the bed, leaving a plate of fruit near the mug of coffee that he had placed there earlier. He eyed the cup, wondering if she had drunk any of it yet.

"How's the head?"

"Seen better days" Brannagh replied, sitting up and picking up a grape from the nightstand, "So what is on today's agenda Captain?"

Jack smirked at her as if to say 'shut up', "Hm, why don't you tell me?"

"You're the one in charge here not me, the crew will probably want to go and look for women, and while we're on land we might want to see what we can do about that pest in the brig" she suggested, popping another grape into her mouth.

"Wait luv, did you just say that _I'm_ in charge? Then why do I have the sneaking suspicion that you are the only one exempt from this statement?" Jack joked with her, a smirk on his face.

"Because it's true" Brannagh replied nonchalantly, she got impatient and just picked up the stalk of grapes.

"Well you know the island better, so what do you suggest?"

"Well", Brannagh thought, lying back on the bed and eating her grapes like a Roman, "There are plenty of places to visit; there is fishing and mountain climbing"

"With your hangover, I think that it would be safe to say that we should just go fishing luv, haven't done that in a decade and a half" came the reply. He seemed perfectly calm while saying this but his head was actually in utter turmoil over Brannagh eating her grapes. Oh course it would be me getting into a fuss over someone eating grapes, he mentally scolded himself. Is she flirting, does that mean that what happened last night was her admitting that she had more feelings for him than she let on?

While Jack got up to go to his desk to look at maps in order to prevent her from seeing him while thinking of these things, God forbid he didn't want another laugh attack from her, or wait, had that all been her flirting? Had she been flirting with him the entire time? He turned around quickly and began to be searching his shelf.

Brannagh lay there lost in her own thoughts, thinking that he was acting odd because she had made him uncomfortable by telling him about her father, she bet that he felt guilty, which he did as she expected.

"Oh look, there is a small place here, that looks fine for fishing, very closed off and private looking" Jack said, still looking at his maps.

Closed off and private looking? Was he trying to be extra nice now out of guilt or was he just flirting with her? Oh God, why did she have to make that crack about love being about protecting people? Oh God just strike me down now, she thought, going to sit up. Then again, had he been flirting the whole time? When he tickled her or that banter about the fish? Or was it all out of good fun, found between two friends?

While Brannagh was suffering from an identical emotional turmoil to that of Jacks, the man himself had begun to think of something else.

_What if I had copped it and taken her away, or had told Da, what would he have done?_ He began to think, going through 'what if' scenarios just as Brannagh had predicted. Even though he never believed her when she said it, she knew him and she knew him well.

**Poor Bran, first Ana tries to get her drunk on purpose for information and then she goes and gets drunk only for Jack to take advantage...but not in THAT way. You dirty minded people. *winks.  
>When Brannagh speaks of Jack going off with a girl in Tortuga after he ran away, it was Arabella, for all of you who may or may not read the books.<strong>

**My facebook author's page link is on the past chapter and also on my actual fanfic page. You can follow and keep up with the latest news and fan art for Brannagh and other stories.**


	4. I Ask Myself The Same Question

**Sorry that the last chapter left out my review replies, I've just been so busy!..and lazy, I'll admit. Anyone here submit to Pottermore?**

**OkayOkay...replies:**

**Lady Electricity: **_Thank you for that lovely review...aha bells, they SHOULD give us sound effects, I may go for cannon fire myself;) Or Jack singing 'I got a jar of dirt'...wait..that's my ring tone XD Hope you're enjoying the story so far!_

**Tokioparawhore:**_...I'm not necessarily going to try to protect myself against you by using a cat am I? May as well keep an elephant in my room, to prevent you from assassinating me. Thanks for the review!_

**MienFacade:**_Now you know the truth...there is more to her history though, as you are about to find out. Her dad caused the trouble, but she has also run into other people that weren't so for your review! I'm writing the next chapter as we speak!_

**Moonlight Calls:**_ Originally I was thinking of calling her Bronagh, but I know a Bronagh who is a complete bitch, pardon the French but this IS rated T...Thank God. Update will be next week, hope you enjoyed!_

**Hayleytylers: **_You're too nice, thanks for the review!_

**Trickypirate12: **_I was thinking of cutting the chapters shorter, I wanna wait though, until you guys give me the go ahead. The sarcasm is fun, and it takes away any Mary-Sueness..I don't want Brannagh being all, purple eyed and needing to be saved like a damsel in distress but I want to show a vulnerable side and the father story and the leg injury help that. Next chapter is being written!_

**Destructivemonkey:**_How did you come up with the name? Thank you VERY much for your review! Yay I got an A+...Now you know about the family...but plots are forming with every chapter, every week ;) Keep a whether eye on the horizon..._

Jack and Brannagh had acquired a small boat with blue and white paint which was chipping off. They were in the middle of the sea at the moment, both of them being reminded of all the times they had been like this as kids, neither saying a word until Brannagh had finally had enough and decided to be straight forward, never being one to dance around a question. She lowered her hands and turned to her pirate companion, a determined look on her face. "Look, are you flirting with me?"

Jack didn't look at her and instead kept his eyes on the water, a confused look on his face, "Depends, do you want me to?"

"I don't know, do you?"

"Do you?"

"Stop answering my questions with questions!"

"Fine then"

There was an awkward silence before it became Jacks turn to break it. "I thought you were flirting with me, all that protecting stuff and being all cosy when you were going to sleep."

"I was drunk"

"So you don't like me then"

"No...I...I do...Stop confusing me" Brannagh sighed, "How do I know if I do or not when I haven't liked anyone else"

"I know exactly whatcha mean luv" Jack muttered, finally turning to look at her.

"Oh please, all the women that you've been through and nothing's happened with any of them, no feelings what so ever? Now yer just yankin' me chain"

"No, honestly, nothing"

Brannagh didn't know how to feel, angry at the fact that he had used women like meat and hadn't denied it, delighted at the honesty or revolted at the fact that women sold themselves like that in the first place. She felt a tug on her line and went to pull back but whatever had been pulling was too strong for her to reel it in on her own.

"I got one! Bugger" Brannagh said, straining to pull the fish in. Jack dropped his own fishing rod and went to help, seeing as she was in distress. He got there just in time, as Brannagh seemed to be yanked and was almost about to be dragged over-board.

"I got ye lass, don't worry" he said, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her back while Brannagh kept pulling, only for the line to snap, sending both adults falling to the floor. Brannagh looked up at Jack, noticing an odd look in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Do you remember when you were nine and you found that ginger kitten, you said that it's loved ones were probably looking for it and you were going to try to get them back and not let anything hurt them? You dragged that thing with you everywhere you went, even to the church that time, trying not to get caught." He said, still looking down at her.

She just nodded at him, remembering the memory but feeling a bit breathless at the closeness between them.

"Well, I think that that you're my ginger kitten"

The dark haired woman just looked up at him with wide eyes, trying to comprehend what he was saying. Was this flirting or a confession…or just normal banter?

"I'm not ginger, you're not going to let that family thing go, are you?" she giggled, her green eyes sparking up at him.

"No luv, I ain't takin' the mick out of ye, I'm just saying that…"

"What?"

"Nothing"

"Jack"

"No"

"Jackie"

He let out a breath, she had called him by the name that she had used back when they were children, and she was sober so he knew that she was thinking straight. "I may feel…something for you, that I haven't felt before, well except for that time before you left, on the beach" he said, getting off of her and going to take back his seat, picking up the fishing rod again.

"Is it like a strange tingling feeling in your gut? And it's confusing and scary but at the same time you just love it, you want to just do something, anything. You become a bit fearless but cowardly at the same time" Brannagh questioned, sitting up and watching him.

"Maybe, why?"

"Because I might have it too, either there is a strange sickness going around or…"

"Is this it? The famous emotion that they call love?"

"I don't know, if it is...I don't know what to think, it makes no sense, it's amazing yet anticlimactic at the same time. It makes absolutely no sense, what so ever"

"So is this like, a weird confession or emotion then or have we really gotten some illness?"

"Trust it to be us to go about it as oddly as this" she smirked; standing up to sit on the rail of the boat just as she normally did at the helm of the Pearl.

"Well, I don't think sheep like boats so I think that my fish would be perfectly adequate for now" Jack said to her, feeling smug, a smirk on his face.

"Well, now that you mention it, I have yet to see a sheep in the Caribbean"

"Hmm, if this if love and you agree with me after arguing over fish and sheep, I'm going to get along with it just fine"

Brannagh rolled her eyes at him. "As if I'm going to let you win _that_ easily Sparrow"

He couldn't help but laugh at her antics. She had always been a stubborn one which had been quite entertaining to watch. She was always someone that you would want to have on your team during a debate; maybe she could be handy during a meeting with the Brethren Court?

"So did you ever go back?" he asked her, going back to watching the waves.

"Back where?"

"Shipwreck, did you ever go back?"

"I don't think so, I don't know if I'd want to, or even be able to for that matter"

"Why not?"

"Because you may have been there for the good memories, but there were a lot of bad ones too" Brannagh replied sadly. Deciding that he was sick of fishing and too impatient to keep at it, Jack went over to the railing next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She didn't cry but she didn't say anything either.

"I'd say sorry but I know that you wouldn't want pity. Well that, and the fact that I'm forever telling ye not to be apologising yerself. That would just make me a hypocrite"

He could feel her laugh against him, "Don't worry, you're already a hypocrite" she giggled.

"Hey!" he argued, forcing her to look up at him. He was about to argue with her but ended up getting lost in her eyes. They were shining in the sunlight, like emeralds. He could practically see his own reflection in them. She just stared back at him, looking into his dark brown ones, not saying a word.

They hadn't even noticed, but they had been inching closer towards each other, getting closer and closer. Until eventually their lips finally met. It was soft and gentle, Brannagh reaching up to put her arms around his neck to pull herself closer. She felt his hands on her waist trying to pull her as close as possible too. They pulled away a few minutes later to catch their breath, Brannagh leaning her forehead against his with a smirk on her face, not removing her arms from his neck.

"This love thing could get very interesting" she considered, looking at him to see him smiling back at her.

"Aye luv, very interesting"

* * *

><p>The fishing idea had been dumped. It was after getting quite boring and neither Jack nor Brannagh could remember what they had liked about it all those years ago.<p>

"Maybe it was because we both got to get away from home for a while and had someone to babble to" Brannagh suggested, eyeing the stalls, as she and Jack walked down the market place again, his arm around her waist.

"You could be onto something their luv; I think you might be right"

"Oh course I'm right, I'm always right" she teased, a light hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Really? Then why am I the captain of a ship and you are not?"

"Many reasons" Brannagh defended, a defiant look on her face.

"Like?"

"Like I don't want to be a captain for one, I don't want too much responsibility, besides, I am book smart, you're field smart"

"If I didn't know any better, I would say that were giving me a compliment there" Jack replied, playing her at her own game. She laughed and wandered over to a stall selling all different types of food. She bought two pastries' from the seller and turned back to Jack, handing him one.

"Come on, it's not poisoned" She said, before taking a bite from her own, "See?" she pointed out.

* * *

><p>He found it disgusting. What sort of people had she been associating with since she had run off?<p>

The shadow hiding behind the corner of one of the alleyways had been watching them closely for a while now. The hatred consuming him as he watched the pair smiling at each other. It made him sick to his stomach.

He was going to get her back, even if he had to use force. It had been planned that she would wind up with him years ago and he was going to make sure that it happened.

* * *

><p>"He's gone Cap'n" Gibbs said, not bothering with saying hello and getting straight to the point as he reached the helm to see Jack with Brannagh.<p>

"Who's gone?"

"Brown Cap'n, looks like someone let him out"

"You what? What about the men on duty, I had two men on look out to take care of the ship"

"Well it looks like Brown must have had help sir, some _outside _help sir" Gibbs hinted, still a little frightened of how Jack might take the news.

Jack seemed emotionless at first, the crew began to back away slowly figuring that this was probably the eye before the storm, they knew that Jack was a time bomb ready to explode at any second. As calm as he usually was, Jack wasn't a person who liked to be cross, and not only that but the men had noticed how close he was with the female whom was the reason that Brown had been sent to the brig in the first place.  
>Brannagh seemed to be thinking the exact same thing as she began to back away and quickly went over to Ana, who had been carry supplies down to the store room.<p>

"What's going on?" she whispered to Brannagh, her eyes not leaving Jack but her head turning to whisper to the other woman.

"That twat in the brig escaped, they think that he had help" Brannagh whispered back, also watching the captain, who was wearing a murderous look on his face. She didn't know if he was angry at the fact that someone had gone behind his back and Brown had been freed from right under his nose or if he was angry at the fact that the man that had tried to come on to his woman was after getting out. That thought felt odd. _His_ woman, how did she feel about that, she mentally questioned.

Ana finally turned to look at her, noticing the odd expression on her face. "What is it, are you okay? I don't think that he will try to come back, you seemed to have decked him pretty hard-" she began to assure before she heard a loud BANG sounding from the helm.

Both women jumped and whipped their heads around to see Jack shooting in all directions angrily and shouting out things that no one could comprehend.

Brannagh didn't know whether to laugh or shake with fear. She knew that Jack usually had strange urges to shoot something when he was angry but she had always found it quite funny. The situation, however, was probably something that she should have been worried about though.

Gibbs had jumped back to the other side of the helm, not knowing what to do while everyone else just stopped and stared, leaving it to Brannagh to go up to there herself in order to try and stop him, but not without rolling her eyes first. Thank God they were docked, otherwise there would have been no one to steer the ship, being too scared of Jack with his pistol in hand to do anything of the sort.

"Stop using the gun and start using yer head, otherwise we'll be kicked out of the docks" Brannagh said, trying to sound authoritive as she appeared beside the captain, her hands on her hips.

Luckily, he stopped and put the gun away, quietening down as he looked at Brannagh with a look in his eye as if to say "come on, I know you understand"

"Why is it that men never seem to grow up?" Brannagh muttered to herself, earning a few coughs from the crew and even a guilty look from Ragetti.

"Now look, if he comes back, we can sort him out. I admit that I would like nothing more than put a bullet right between his eyes but we have to act and think rationally okay? For the time being, I think that it would be a good idea to put more men on look out when we are in town and for the love of God, give that gun of yours a break or I will take it off you and whack you over the head with it, do I make meself clear?" Brannagh warned.

Jack looked at her grudgingly but replied regardless, "Aye". The crew began to follow his lead and let out a chorus of "Aye" and "Alright".

* * *

><p>Brannagh had decided to take a break after the scenario up at the helm and had wandered into Jacks cabin to read for a while in order to get her mind off of things. Her mind was still conflicted over how she felt about the whole ordeal. She was still caught between amusement and a little sense of pride at the thought that he had done that because of how he just wanted her safe. She was sure that he would have acted that way anyway if they weren't together but it felt nice to feel protected. But even if they <em>weren't<em> together, he wouldn't have let anything happen to her, seeing as he had only gotten her back into his life after fifteen years. She heard the door open and looked up from her book to see a regretful looking Jack entering the room.

"Sorry about earlier luv, ye know how I can get" he said, walking over and sitting opposite her by the window.

"I do indeed, yet I'm still here" Brannagh replied, giving him a smirk, before turning back to her book.

"Why do you put up with me?"

"Trust me, I ask myself the same question" came the raven haired woman's response, a smile on her lips as she continued reading.

She knew that she was making Jack uncomfortable. She knew that he wanted to say sorry properly and give a reason behind his behaviour; she didn't care why he did it. It didn't bother her what his excuse was, she just liked watching him squirm. What _did_ bother her, however, was when she felt her book being pried away from her, forcing her to look up at the man sitting across from her.

"Oi, I was reading that!" she protested, going to make a grab for the book.

"My book" Jack defended childishly, holding the book back further, making Brannagh lean against him in the process. Her eyes were on the book but Brannagh could practically feel the smirk on his face radiating from him.

"Give it back"

"No"

"Please...with rum and hats on top" she said, faking a pleading pout, finally turning to him while straddling him in his seat, her arms going to his shoulders.

"Hats" Jack repeated, sneaking his arms around her waist.

"Sorry, forgot you got one in the end, my bad"

"I can't believe that you remembered that"

"I remember everything! I'm insulted that _you_ don't remember that" Brannagh feigned mock hurt, going to pull away but Jack simply pulled her closer, his smirk returning.

"Oh you're a bad one"

"And don't I know it luv; it's amazing how you wound up with me then, isn't it? You being Miss Perfect and all"

"I am not perfect" Brannagh gave him a slap in the chest before putting her arms back around his neck, "I'm just always right, there is a difference"

"Sure luv, there is a difference between everything according to you"

"Of course, why else are there so many words in the English language, or any other for that fact?"

Jack rolled his eyes at her which caused her to giggle. While she giggled, Jack took this opportunity to catch her off guard and kissed her when she least expected it. She jumped at first but kissed him back instantly. This kiss had been nothing like the kiss on the boat, this one was feverish and passionate. Their tongues met when they both went to demand entrance into the others mouth at the same time. Both smirked but continued their kiss, each tongue fighting for dominance.

They had to pull back for breath after a few minutes and looked back at each other, not saying a thing for a few moments before Jack broke the ice with, "Sorry"

Brannagh looked back at him, giving him a reassuring smile, "It's okay, you were just being protective. I knew that something like this would have happened anyway. I know you, remember?"

"You knew that I would do something yet you didn't try to stop me. Is it all women or just you because I am completely lost"

"It's better to let you blow off some steam; I wasn't going to let you bottle it all up. I knew that you would get extra protective after I told you about my father anyway. It's okay Jack, really"

There was silence as Brannagh got up and picked up the book that Jack had thrown to the floor during their little moment of passion. She closed the book and set it back onto the shelf, then turned around to see that Jack had been watching her with a sad look on his face.

"What?" she asked, feeling a bit self conscious.

"I'm sorry luv"

"Now who is always apologising?"

"Now I see why you do it"

"It's not that bad. Besides you're the only person that I have said sorry to in years, and the last person that I said it to was just a random woman on the street that I had bumped into"

"How long was it going on for, before you left?"

"Well..."

"Brannagh" he said, not letting her get away with it this time.

"Fine, when I was seven..."

_A seven year old Brannagh was in the kitchen helping her mother. Her mother was at the table pealing potatoes for dinner, while Brannagh was mixing the ingredients for bread that they would have later that night. Her mother had a bruise this morning and when asked about it, she had merely replied that she had fallen over while trying to carry all of the washing. The excuse of her mother being injured during her chores had been one of the reasons why Brannagh had insisted on helping her in the kitchen that day. If she fell and landed on a knife, then what would happen?_

_Both mother and daughter looked up when they heard the door open and saw Trevor Clarke staggering into the room._

"_Why isn't dinner ready yet?" he slurred angrily, as he got closer to the table._

"_It's nearly done" Brannaghs mother replied meekly, unable to meet her father's eyes._

"_Is this brat distracting you? Oi you tosser, get out"_

"_But-" Brannagh began to protest, only to be cut off by her mother._

"_Leave her alone, she hasn't done anything, she is only helping. If it weren't for her you'd have to wait longer"_

"_You dare speak back to me like that?" growled Trevor, his eyes darkening as they fixed themselves upon his wife, who was still continuing her work while avoiding eye contact. This angered the drunken man even more so he raised his hand._

_A young Brannagh was after beginning to get scared so she had copied her mother and had continued what she was doing; only looking up when she heard the sound of a crack. She saw her mother holding a hand to her face, her head turned to the side and her father pulling his hand away._

_Brannagh had never seen her father raise a hand to her mother before like that. It was in that instant that she realised that her mother hadn't fallen over the day before; she had been hit by her father. "NO" she cried out, dropping her spoon and running over to her mother, only to be slapped in face by her father._

"_Shut up you brat!"_

"_Mummy!"_

"_I said SHUT UP!" he father roared, coming towards her again with a vengeful look in his eyes._

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Jack asked, holding a teary Brannagh close to him.

"I was scared, what if he got angry and came after me for telling? I would only get people hurt. And no one would believe me; they might have just said that I deserved it and that I must have done something wrong to warrant a slap"

"But it wasn't just a slap, was it?"

_Her brother had been taken away and Brannagh didn't know what to do. She had had a lovely day with Jack and had gone to see a new port but once she had returned from her travels, she had learned that her brother had been taken to the local infirmary. He was being treated for broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. Brannagh didn't know whether to fear for her brother or for the rest of their safety. Her father had been drinking more than usual lately and her mother had been limping all week._

_This had to stop; it was hurting everyone around her. Jack couldn't set foot inside the house and she wouldn't invite him in either because what if her father walked in and hurt him? What if HIS father found out? Brannagh didn't necessarily like her father but he DID provide the money which put food on the table, as small as it was considering he drank most of his pay._

_She didn't want to live like this, it was killing her and it was eventually going to kill her mother. Something needed to be done. Te best solution she could think of was leaving, but what about Jack? Her mother had obviously been thinking of the exact same thing._

"That's why I made her that promise" Brannagh whispered into Jacks shoulder as she clung to him tightly, not wanting to let go as she allowed herself to remember the dark times in her past. "And I stuck to it. I think it's why I became so cynical about love and things like that. If those things had never happened, I might have never left Shipwreck or I might not have been engaged to that bloke for his money, I might have been more considerate"

"No one knows these things luv, but you learned important things from this. You can defend yourself and you don't take nonsense from anyone. If those things had never happened, do you honestly think that you would be on good terms with Ana Maria?" Jack tried to lighten up the mood, rubbing her back.

"Maybe, She might talk to me because I have all the dirt on you" Brannagh giggled, pulling away to look at the man in front of her.

"Well...maybe, but you wouldn't tell her anything"

Brannagh tried to interject but Jack spoke over her, "Because I know you just as much as you claim to know me" he smirked at her.

Brannagh laughed, "I thought I knew you, but when I thought of telling you about this, I thought that you would be thinking of 'what if' scenarios...turns out I was wrong. I was the one thinking about them"

"That's not true luv, I _did_ think about them, I just didn't exactly voice them. We are just alike, that's all"

* * *

><p>He was sitting at the bar when I found him. The pathetic cur was sitting at the counter, drowning himself in rum. He was scum and nothing more but I needed him. I wanted my revenge and he was just the person needed. She had hurt him too, even though he had deserved it, I had not. I always knew that she was a strong woman but I never expected her to turn out the way she had.<p>

"You have a debt to pay" I said, taking the seat beside him while thinking of how often those words must be heard when it came to these filthy pirates.

"I don't owe you anything", slurred the man, I had come to see, angrily, but I could tell that he wasn't drunk. I bet that he was a cocky little runt that only pretended to act the hard man. Typical coward, perfect, just what I needed.

"I got you out of the brig" I responded calmly. He wasn't anything I needed to be scared of. If anything, he should have been scared of me.

"Then I will give you rum. I could have escaped myself"

"And how would that be exactly? The captain would be angry that you tried something under his nose. Miss Brannagh obviously hates you, if that lip of yours is anything to go by. By the looks of it, it's been infected for a while so I take it that you were down there for a while. If you had taken care of it properly it would have healed by now. Playing with the pirates isn't for pretty boys"

"And you would know about that would you?" he spat, crouched over his tankard, his nose scrunched up, obviously indicating that he didn't like me or the fact that he owed me.

"What if I told you that all you would need to do is help to get revenge?" I asked, getting back to the reason I was here.

"Really?" the idiot beside me said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"Yes, all you need to do is go aboard the Pearl and snatch Miss Brannagh, I will give you lodgings and you...ruffle her up a bit. Now how does that sound?"

"Are you stupid? Sparrow would kill me on sight! He obviously has something for that whore"

It took every ounce of self restraint I had to not kill him on the spot. I was getting impatient. "Look" I continued, "I'll make sure that the captain isn't there, you just get the girl and go to where I tell you to go. It couldn't be easier"

"And why do _you _want her? How do you even know that wench? If you really know her, you would know how she's a bad egg."

"That is none of your concern. All you need to know is that in order to pay your debt to me, you'll have to get the girl and go from A to B. Now are you in or not?" I said, growing impatient with this imbecile even more. It took a few minutes for him to mull it over before he finally spoke.

"Deal"  
>Little did I know, he was planning on dragging someone else into this.<p>

* * *

><p>It was a nice feeling waking up like this. Brannagh had never felt so at peace in her life. She had woken up but hadn't moved yet, seeing as she was too comfortable with Jacks arm around her. She hadn't bothered to open her eyes either. It was just when she noticed that Jack hadn't been snoring that she heard,"I know you're awake"<p>

"No I'm not" she replied innocently, trying to snuggle deeper into the pillows. Her back was facing him but he was facing her so she could feel his breath tickling her ear as he leaned over to say, "So we talk in our sleep now do we?"

"You mumble sometimes" Brannagh replied in a know-it-all fashion.

"I do not" the pirate disagreed, pulling Brannagh closer.

"Yes you do!" she insisted, "you've been at it for years, I thought you knew!"

"Well I can't necessarily know when I'm asleep now can I?"

"I thought that someone else would have mentioned it, it was scary that first time I heard you at it, talking about wings and a donkey named Derek that needed to be fed in the shed with the purple grass walls. You speak even less sense when you are asleep then you do when you're awake"

"Oh yeah? Well you are a blanket hogger, and sometimes you kick!"

"Can you blame me? You might want to try something in your sleep, I've heard of it happening"

"Oh shut it" he said, before pulling Brannagh again and forcing her to lie on her back so he could lean over her. Just a month ago, he had thought of how most men waited for a woman to get into their bed but how he had been waiting for her to tell her story. Now she had told him _and_ she was in his bed and he couldn't help but smirk at the thought. But this was Brannagh, this wasn't some common whore. And Brannagh was decent and respectable and she had sense. He definitely wouldn't be forcing her into something she didn't want to do.

But in the mean time, there were other things to do, he thought, his smirk turning into a cheeky grin, one that Brannagh new all too well. They kissed again, this time like the one by the window, but just as Brannagh was pulling him closer, they heard a knock at the door. Jack groaned in annoyance and got up to answer it as Brannagh rolled her own, her lips twitching into a half smile.

"Gibbs" she heard Jack say to the person at the door. Gibbs had begun whispering to Jack, who had ended up whispering back. The door eventually closed, leaving Brannagh curious.

"What's going on?" she asked, sitting up, a look of concern on her face.

"A few of the men are after getting themselves into a right state, stay here until I return and...I shouldn't even by wasting my breath should I?" he asked, grabbing his effects and turning back to her. She simply smiled at him and shook her head. He smirked back at her and gave a peck on the forehead before exiting the room, leaving Brannagh on her own.

Hopefully Ana Maria would be on the Pearl this morning, she was a hard worker and wasn't like the men and had therefore probably drunk less. Brannagh just didn't want to be alone but once she left the cabin and went out on deck, she found the place empty, apart from Cotton who was sitting on a barrel a few feet away and Thornton, who was whittling something with his knife out of sheer boredom. Obviously Jack had ignored her when she had said that he should have more men put on guard duty. Then again he may have just done that today out of forgetfulness or the fact that she was there. She smirked at that thought but frowned, thinking how she would definitely have to stay on the ship. _Bloody Pirate._

He had probably thought about this in the first place, he knew that she would take care of the ship and...oh that conniving little,..Brannagh couldn't even finish that thought.

Cotton went below deck a while after Thornton had gone down to the galley, thinking that he needed help or something. This left Brannagh alone on deck which made her nervous, her hair sticking up on the back of her neck. She could sense that something wasn't right.

She heard a noise coming from below deck, one of the men had probably dropped something in the galley but her gut was telling her to go down and check.

She slowly made her way down to the galley, feeling a bit unnerved when she noticed that the room was empty. She hadn't even reached the table, before a figure jumped out from behind the door and covered her mouth with a cloth. Panicking, Brannagh had begun to kick and let out a muffled scream. Fighting had become useless after a few minutes though, when she finally fell unconscious. It was a shame, if she had actually reached the table, she would have seen a tied up Cotton and a tied and gagged Thornton.

* * *

><p>Those men were paid off and he knew it, they weren't able to afford <em>that type <em>of drink. Over half of the swag from the ship they had raided had been spent, and he knew for a fact that the men that he had to tend to were the type of men that would mostly spend the rest on wenches and cheap rum, so how had they afforded the fancy stuff? Jack Sparrow smelled a rat. He walked down the dusty road, Gibbs and Ana Maria holding up one of the men while Walker and Evans, a young auburn haired sailor, led another man back to the ship along with the others. Nearly half of the crew were after drinking themselves into a stupor, which meant that the Pearl would be spotless tomorrow since there would be no sailing.

Once they arrived, Jack looked around the ships deck to find it empty, angering him even more. He knew that Brannagh may have run off but he had left Cotton and Thornton on watch, so where were they? He checked the cabin to see if Brannagh had stayed but found it empty, there was no note, no nothing.  
>While he had been looking around, Gibbs had left the others, to bringing the drunken men down to the sleeping quarters, to find some water that he would leave down there for the men. Upon entering and getting the water, he heard a muffled noise and found a panicked looking Thornton and who was mumbling through a gag with wide eyes and a calm looking Cotton, probably only seeming calm because he couldn't speak. Thornton was facing the wall and couldn't see Gibbs; he could only hear his entry, only Cotton could see him.<p>

Jack was just after closing his cabin door behind him after exiting when he heard Gibbs calling for someone to come down to the galley and help. Most of the crew were helping the drunken ones so he went down instead, finding the two men gagged, Gibbs trying to untie Cotton.

"What's going on 'ere?" Jack asked, going over to Thornton and removing the gag.

"I didn't see them Cap'n, I'm sorry. I came down here and I was hit over the head. I woke up here."

"You came down here, and left Mr Cotton on his onesies?"

"Neigh sir, Miss Brannagh was with him, I came down here to get something to bring up to the rest of them-"

"Brannagh was here, where is she now?"

"I don't know Cap'n but I heard her come in after we were tied up. I'm facing the wall so I couldn't see anything but I heard a struggle. I think she was taken"

Jack didn't know whether to slap the man for his stupidity, seeing as it was obvious that she had been taken, or distraught at the fact that someone had tried to take her and succeeded. "So no one saw this mystery person"

"Well, only one sir, if ye think about it" Gibbs spoke up, finishing untying Cottons bonds, causing Jack to momentarily pause and think before looking back at the mute.

"Mr Cotton, did you see this person?" he questioned, watching the old sailor. The man nodded, a grieved look on his face. "Could you...draw him, or point him out? Did you know him?"

Cotton shook his head again. "Would the rest of the crew know him?" Cotton shook his head again.

"Mr Gibbs!"

"Aye, Cap'n"

"Get Mr Cotton here something to draw with, he is going to draw the man we are looking for that might have Bran, but after you finish untying Thornton. Understood?" Jack said, turning to leave after a last glance at the men.

"Aye Cap'n" Gibbs replied.

And with that, Jack was gone.

* * *

><p>Brannagh woke up feeling groggy. It wasn't like a hang-over; this was more like a cold or a bad case of the flu. She opened her eyes, finding herself in a dimly lit room. She snapped her head around in search of any means of an escape. How had she gotten here and who had gagged her, she thought as she looked around for something sharp.<p>

"And Sleeping Beauty awakes, finally" came a voice from the doorway in front of her. Brannagh snapped her head around and saw a familiar face that she really wasn't in the mood of seeing again.

"What do you want? Why am I here?"

"Still feisty then, we'll take care of that I'm sure" the speaker replied calmly with a dark smile on his face.

* * *

><p>Cotton had spent the best part of an hour trying to get the picture just right. It had come as a shock to the crew to find out that the mute was able to draw. He was obviously skilled at art from the looks of things.<p>

Jack had begun pacing back and forth along deck, planning on how the crew would suffer. If it weren't for them getting mysteriously drunk, he would have been with Brannagh. Mysteriously drunk. These two things were connected and he knew it, it was almost as if it were... planned. Of course! Someone had planned this...a very rich person. Pirate? It was unlikely that it would be anyone of the nobility. They would solve that later, they wanted Brannagh first, she was the priority for now.

"Are you finished yet?" he would ask every five minutes. Eventually Cotton handed over the page to Jack, who practically ripped it from his hand in such a rush. Gibbs watched as Jacks eyes widened, so he took a peak over his shoulder and felt his eyes widening himself.

What was he doing on the Pearl, both men thought, unless he knew Brannagh. He didn't look like someone who would want to kidnap anyone. His eyes were too warm and his features were too soft. Someone must have put him up to it.

* * *

><p>Brannagh wasn't going to scream, she wasn't going to scream, she wasn't going to scream. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. Her head was still raised high, a gag now tied onto her head. He was gone now, her captor, he had begun to talk about someone wanting her and '<em>How would anyone want you, you pathetic whore?<em>' He had mentioned a deal and he was just about to say something else when Brannagh began to zone him out. He had punched her about for a bit, he saw it as 'pay back', he was probably proud at the pathetic fact that he had gotten it, hitting a woman and having to tie her down in order to do it. She smirked at this thought, which angered him, he had been hurting her for almost an hour now and she was smirking at him, not screaming, not letting out a muffled cry or plea of mercy. Nothing. So he slapped her, hard, across the face.

She didn't so much as wince.

Her father had done worse.

Pain wasn't a stranger to Brannagh O'Rourke and she certainly wasn't going to let it affect her now. She knew that he would come back for her, men like that always did.  
>She knew that she would get out of this, she always did but she didn't know how much longer she could put up with this.<p>

"Why did you ever bother to come back, why even chance returning to the Pearl in the first place?" she asked, once her gag had been removed.

"I didn't come back lass. I merely sent someone else in my place, I'm not that stupid. But I'll admit that I'm not planning this out, I'm just being paid to do this"

"What? By who?"

"Oh you'll see Doll...You'll see" the man in front of her replied with a dark smile on his face, putting the gag back on.

000

How dare he? That insolent little rodent! I was outraged to learn that the man I had hired was after dragging a third party into my plan. He would have to go, and once I had my hands on Brannagh, I would take care of the idiot that had dared defy me. I would certainly be taking care of him.

I began plotting what I would do to him while I walked through the dark alleyway, the Greek heat almost smothering.

First I needed to sort out his little mistake and track down the 'third wheel'.

* * *

><p>Jack hadn't wasted anytime and had immediately gone to the streets, asking people if they knew the man in the picture. The attempt seemed to be feeble and he had often thought of giving up a few times but the thought of Brannagh being held somewhere and only God knows what going on. He was beginning to lose hope until he finally came across someone who knew the mystery man.<p>

"Yes, nice boy, Alex" an old woman with a black shawl said in broken English, "Poor boy, very poor boy. He have no money"

"Do you know where he would go?"

"He have no house, he hide in abandoned places and sleep there."

"Could you show me where?"

* * *

><p>Brannagh was relived to be finally untied. Her kidnapper that had beaten her earlier had removed her bounds before leaving. She had debated jumping him and making a run for it but she had no weapons and she was in pain from where he had hurt her. Not to mention the fact that she was curious. Someone was paying him for this and she wanted to know who. She had met a few people with a good amount of money and she had made an enemy out of over half off them, so it intrigued her to see who it was. They must have been very rich and very vengeful.<p>

Brannagh slowly walked around the room and went over to the window, learning that they were by the sea and at the top of a cliff. If she jumped, would she survive? She knew that she better not risk it, but if she had to, she knew that she would jump.

* * *

><p>Jack had gone back to feeling hopeless, except this time he felt angry too. He had found the man he had been looking for but he had found him dead. Someone had known about him, someone had wanted him dead too, which probably meant that his killer must know something about Brannagh. Or perhaps the boy just got on the wrong side of a lot of people.<p>

Jack was currently pacing in his cabin, thinking about why someone would kill the man that took Brannagh and why he would have done it. The woman had said that he was poor, so he was probably the middle man, the dead kidnapper was probably hired...maybe even hired by his murderer. The pirate captain thought back on what he had to go along with. Thornton had gone to the galley and had blacked out, only tied and gagged, Cotton followed him down and was tied up and then Brannagh was taken by a poor bugger who had probably been hired to do it by someone else. But who was ordering this? Was it an enemy of his or Brannaghs? No one really knew anything between him and Brannagh except the crew. But with her being the only female that wouldn't chew your head off on sight, she seemed like an easy enough target.

Hang on a minute, Jack thought and stopping mid pace, how did he know not to gag Cotton?

* * *

><p>The man that had recently developed a love of hurting Brannagh hadn't been seen for a few hours and it was making her nervous. He was probably out getting drunk somewhere in a tavern surrounded by whores and cheap rum, although he had admitted to being paid so for all she knew, he had been paid, so he could have been drinking the expensive stuff but that was besides the point! He wanted Brannagh back, what if he beat her, what if he came back while drunk and beat her? She had suffered enough with her father with that.<br>Jack needed a drink, and in the process he would hopefully find a drunken man with information.

* * *

><p>I found him at the bar, again. And he was drinking, again. As soon as I approached him and took my stool at the counter he spoke, "So where is my money?"<p>

"You're not getting it" I replied smoothly, making sure my face showed no emotion.

"What! Why?" he asked, his head whipping around, a look of pure anger on his face, "I did what you said. I-"

"No, you didn't. You got someone else to do your dirty work for you. You could have ruined everything! I had to take care of that Neanderthal myself, you get nothing! I told you to take her and bring her to the place I told you about. You went against me and hired someone else to do it for you." I stood up to leave, unable to stand another second near this idiot or in a place of such depravity.

"I got it done anyway!" he tried to argue on his behalf.

"I could have hired that puny man myself"

'If you don't pay me I'll tell Sparrow" he threatened, a smile on his face, obviously pleased with himself. I turned around to face him again, my anger and rage swelling up within me.

"If you even try to get within an inch of that scoundrel, it will be your head! You've seen how I can plan things and get jobs done and you know that I have the money to pay for it. If you run, I'll hunt you down and kill you. Understand?" I watched, as he nodded nervously before, finally, exiting the tavern.

**Ohhh. Who is that guy? Right twat altogether isn't he? And poor Brannagh being kept in the dark...**

**When will she ever escape? Damn enemies, and she called Jack bad?**

**Well, you know what to do..REVIEW!**


	5. The Window

**My God I had the worst case of writers block for this chapter, got to see Glee Live though;) Sorry that you all had to wait a month, this chapter was just REALLY hard to write! Oh and with it being fan FICTION, I just wanted to say now: Barbossa HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH IN THIS STORY! I also want to add that I don't want to focus on Bran and Jack's relationship that much right now because even though they kiss and stuff, they're both unused to everything so they aren't lovey dovey, well that and he is a fearsome pirate captain and she is a no nonsense gal so they both have reputations to uphold. Oh and, I have a CaptainSkitzoVamp Facebook page, all you need to do it go to my page and find the link, or click on homepage, which is above my user picture. Please Join! Also this was written in France, enjoy! LOL They might wind up in France some time, never know;)  
>Moonlight Calls: <strong>_Do you speak of Game of Thrones? Cos there is a Bran in that and I love it! My favourite is either his tom boy sister or that blonde one that was pregnant…if not, I just babbled for no reason. This chapter shall reveal all! Thanks for your review!_

_Chapter 5: The Window_

Jack had figured it out. Of course that dead bloke had been hired, because the fella that had hired him would have been noticed. Who hated Bran, who had the perfect motivation to get at her? It had to be Brown and he was sure about it. He had probably told 'dead bloke' ,as Jack had started to refer to him as, that Cotton was a mute and that was probably why he hadn't been gagged. Jack had sensed something odd but that little slip up had clued him in, big time. So the pirate captain was currently going from tavern to tavern in search of his ex-crewmember.

Finally Jack reached Chris's tavern, the last one in his search. And luckily enough Jack found him at the counter with a tankard of rum, looking a little scared, as if he had seen a ghost or something. Or maybe its guilt, Jack thought as he came near him. He didn't waste anytime and grabbed Brown by the collar. "Where is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about" he choked, obviously lying.

"Don't play dumb mate, I know it was you" Jack said, venom in his voice as he pushed Brown and forced his head onto the counter, holding it down.

"I can't tell you, he'll kill me" Brown almost cried.

"I'll kill you meself if you don't spill, if I can't get you to spill the whereabouts of her location, I'll spill your guts all over the floor"

"Hey hey hey. What is this? Please, no fighting in my tavern. You take fight outside!" Christo called, appearing behind the bar.

"Not when it concerns Bran, don't worry mate, I'll pay for any damages I may cause."

"Bran? What has happened?"

"Well, let's wait for this one here to tell us, eh?" Jack suggested, before turning back to Brown.

"Okay, I'll tell you, just please don't hurt me. Kill the guy that hired me instead"

"Hired you? But I thought you hired someone else" Jack questioned, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"I did, but I was hired by someone else to do that. I was supposed to get her myself…just please" Brown begged.

"Alright, get talking" Jack replied, letting go of the man he had been holding down and taking a seat, taking the man's rum in the process.

* * *

><p>Being a hostage was boring and it drove you mental. This is what was going through Brannaghs head as she paced back and forth, still locked in her room. The room itself was monotonous. There was an uncomfortable wooden chair, which Brannagh had been tied to when she first arrived, and that was it.<p>

Her head whipped around when she heard the door creak open and couldn't help but feel her eyes widen when she saw who had opened it. It was a face that she was hoping she would never see again. In the doorway stood a medium height blonde man with electric blue eyes that were watching her with no emotion.

"Why hello Miss Roselyn...or should I say Miss Brannagh" he said, a hint of amusement in his voice as he watched her, taking a few more steps inside and closing the door behind him.

"Evan" Brannagh breathed, still in shock. He had done this? But he wasn't…he was supposed to be in….well he wasn't supposed to be here.

"I knew you'd return here. I remember you talking about it and I couldn't help but look around myself. I must say, I still can't fathom why you like it here" Evan declared, his hands behind his back as he walked towards the window. His high society posh accent sounded a little too cocky for Brannaghs liking.

"So you stayed here, for me?" she couldn't help but ask, not moving from her spot but turning around to face the man by the window.

"Oh don't flatter yourself darling. I wasn't going to let you slip through my fingers, now was I? Did you ever wonder why you ended up in that brig in the first place? Why your hand wasn't simply cut off or why you weren't merely slapped? Why you were taken aboard that ship. You were on your way to see me, if it weren't for that pirate ship. And now you're getting a bit close to the captain I hear. Not out to rob another man I hope, dangerous thing…especially from a pirate."

"I'm not going to rob him! Not after how helpful he has been."

"Helpful? Oh please, all pirates are the same, they'll just dispose of you like a tissue after they've gotten what they want" Evan snorted, resuming his wave watching.

"Well they're better than you ever were! Unlike you, they are actually decent, which must be saying something" Brannagh snapped, causing Evan to walk over to her and slap her across the face without hesitation. The crack of his hand echoed throughout the room.

"What happened to you, you used to have sense. Everything was going perfectly until that night you lit my house on fire."

"That was an accident"

"You ruined everything!" Evan continued, as if he hadn't heard her, "I lost my reputation, all respect from my peers, my home, and my servants. We were going to get married and have children and I was going to get promoted. We were going to be happy"

"I WAS NEVER HAPPY! You were never there! I don't want children! You were abusive and pathetic, and you still are! I only wanted your money. You are a sick, sick man"

"Yes you were! What did you spend my money on by the way, I'm curious?"

"I used it to get away from you" Brannagh replied stiffly, taking a seat on the wooden chair in the middle of the room, her back to the man that had returned to the window.

"You burned my house down."

"Consider the money as my… Traumatic Compensation… "

"Why were you in the room that night? Why didn't you just leave?"

000

_Brannagh was fully dressed in her travelling attire. She admitted she looked like a pirate but that was how she had been raised. She couldn't stay here. Even is she liked it here, or if any of the people had been nice, she still couldn't stay. Besides, she didn't like it her. Evan was a cruel and terrible, demanding man. She had to move around anyway, this wasn't her. She was trapped in a cage and she needed to be freed. She couldn't be tied down like this, she needed her freedom. She was after packing a small ruck sack with a few belongings and a great deal of his money and had tied them to a horse that she had gotten ready, the only thing left to do was leave the letter. It was late at night and everyone was asleep, the maids and servants were in their quarters and Evan was in his room. As much as he had hurt her, she had a promise to keep to her mother, and she felt that he needed an explanation for her disappearance. So giving her horse one last look, she headed back for the house. She already had the letter ready; she just wanted to give it to him last._

_She walked into the house, trying to make sure that the heels of her boots made as little noise as possible, as she crept up the stairs and into Evans room. She could hear him snoring as she quietly made her way over to the mahogany table and gently placed the envelope on top of the stack of books that were resting on it. She let out a breath and quickly turned, only to hit her foot off of a nearby trunk. She squeaked in shock and pain, causing Evan to quickly sit up, fully alert. "Roselyn?"_

_Brannagh ran instantly from the room. Nothing was going to stop her, not Evan, not a maid, not anyone, she was leaving tonight and that was it. She didn't try to prevent making any noise this time, as she rushed down the stairs and out the door. A gas lamp that had been left near the door, sat perched on top of a cabinet, along with papers and other nick-knacks. Something caught Brannaghs eye and she noticed a ring on a chain, it looked nice and she would need anything she could get her hands on in order get away from here, so she grabbed it, knocking over the lamp in the process. She didn't look back as she ran out the door and jumped onto the horse, galloping away as fast as she could._

_It was only when she passed the woods and reached the top of a hill, did she finally turn around to see the house in flames. Her eyes were wide in shock; she didn't mean to deprive the man of his home. She could make out figures standing outside the house, one of them flailing their arms around wildly. She was positive that it must have been Evan. She was also sure that he had probably never gotten to read her letter, the one that was probably burning like everything else in the building._

_And with that last thought, she galloped off into the night._

_000_

"And you expect me to believe that do you? That you actually tried to be nice? You stole my money!" Evan said, a dark look in his eyes as he looked at the woman in the chair.

"Well to be honest, it was the only reason I was there! I never loved you in the first place, admit it, I was just going to be a trophy wife. Well that isn't who I am, you can't lock me away! I'm not an animal! You used to hit me! I didn't deserve that, even if I _did_ love you!"

"You do!" Evan exclaimed, leaving his position at the window and going over to kneel in front of Brannagh with a smile that scared her, on his face, "You love me, and I still love you, you just got confused and made a mistake and you need to be punished but don't worry, after all of this is settled, we can go home, we can get a house here! And we can have lots of children and we are going to grow old together!" he said in almost a whisper, grabbing her hands and squeezing them tightly, causing her to close her eyes and wince in pain before finally pulling away.

"No! I was with you because of your money, why can't you get that through your thick skull! I never had feelings for you except pity! I took your money and I ran and I lived off of it, I enjoyed every second of it, and I don't regret it one bit! Hell will freeze over before I have any of your children!" she screamed at him, rising from her chair and walking forwards near the door but turning to face him instead, her hand on her head in frustration.

"Brannagh, Darling, You're just sick, that is all, but we can get help for you" Evan said, in a coaxing voice, putting his hands on her shoulders but she shrugged them off.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed at him, truly scared of the man in front of her, who knew what he was capable of?

He slapped her again and headed for the door, a look of hatred of his face, "Think about where you are standing and get back to me, you miserable whore" he said acidicly, before slamming the door shut and locking it, leaving Brannagh alone, a hand on the cheek that had been touched.

* * *

><p>A quarter of an hour later, Brannagh was sitting on the floor by the window, her face resting on her folded arms which were resting upon the low window sill. She had heard people moving around outside her door, but decided that she must have been in a building of flats. From what Greek she understood, there was a little boy who wasn't getting supper, an old man that was being forced to go to and live in his nieces house and someone was expecting a baby, which gave her the idea that she had been dumped in a flat and that no one knew that they had in their home.<p>

It was when she heard the lock of her door being touched, that she jumped and went to stand behind the door. She couldn't stand it anymore, she needed to get back to the Pearl and get Jack to take them somewhere else. If Evan came back, what would happen? He had been bad when she knew him, and by the looks of things, he had only gotten worse.

The door creaked open and Brannagh closed her eyes as she heard the sound of boots against the hard wooden floor. She drew in a breath before leaping out to hit the person that had walked in, only for her fist to be caught and end up face to face with the person that she had been trying to get back to.

"'Ello luv"

"And what are you doing in this neck of the woods?" she teased, even though she had been terrified less than a moment ago, seeing Jack had changed her mood instantly, she felt safe and happy. It was a thing that he was always capable of. It was also probably one of the reasons she had been so drawn to him as a child, being how he could make her forget all her troubles at home with just one glance.

"Rescuing you of course"

"Well, would you mind hurrying it up please. Before someone comes along?" she asked. Or before that blonde prick returns, she thought with distain.

"Who did it? All I got was a description and the fact that he has a lot of money…do you know him? Because I rattled me brain and I just can't think of any reason for him to come after you" Jack knew that Brannagh knew her kidnapper and was curious to know the story behind it. She was about to reply when the door opened again, to reveal a very angry looking Evan, he had most likely been angry at the fact that the pick had been locked and was probably furious at the fact that Jack had found her.

"Run" Brannagh whispered.

"Where to luv, because I'm all open to suggestions" Jack whispered back, his eyes not leaving Evan, as Brannagh and he slowly walked backwards. He felt as she reached down and grabbed his hand, tugging him back further towards the window, making him figure out what she was thinking and also mentally agreeing to the idea. _Talk about the window of opportunity._

They had reached the window sill when Jack finally broke the silence, before Evan could run and attack one of them, "Alas, this is the day that-"

Brannagh simply rolled her eyes and kept her firm grip on Jack before jumping out the window, watching the glass as it fell with her and hearing Jack as he shouted, falling beside her. She swore that she could hear another shout in the distance but ignored it as she plunged into the blue waters beneath her.

The water wasn't freezing, it was just right. Her muscles ached as soon as they hit the water after falling from such a great height. It was like hitting a brick wall in a way. She stayed under the waves for a few minutes before emerging, sucking in a breath and beginning to thread on the water. She heard gun shots and looked up, spotting Evan standing by the window, which her and Jack had just broken, with a gun in his hand, pointing at the two.

"Quick luv, hurry up" she heard Jack say. She felt him tugging on her hand, forcing her to swim away which she did, wanting to get away from Evan no matter what it took. She'd set his house on fire again if it came down to it. As she swam towards the nearby beach, she could hear the bullets as they hit the water, she narrowly avoided one, seeing as one landed in the water near her arm.

The two eventually made it to the beach, the cliff acting as a protective wall, separating the beach from the building, both trying to get their breath back whilst lying on the sand, not saying a word.

"Old friend?" Jack asked sarcastically, staring up at the cloudless blue sky.

"Oh sod off!" came the panting reply.

"So what did you do to deserve that?"

"I didn't!...it was an accident….okay I might have" Brannagh said, her breath returning to her and her head rolling around to look at the pirate beside her, "I may have accidentally burned his house down"

Jack smirked back at her "Accidentally, of course" he said sarcastically.

"And…I may have robbed him"

"How many people have you robbed exactly?"

"It's not like I keep count"

"Do the people you rob come after you like this regularly?"

"No…this is a first…it's probably because I was engaged to that one"

"Hang on" Jack sat up and looked down at Brannagh, who was holding herself up by her elbows, "That was the bloke you were engaged to?"

"I was expecting a run in, didn't expect _that_ though"

Jack stood up and offered Brannagh his hand which she took without a word.

"So what, you thought that you'd see him and he'd buy you a tankard for burning down the fellas house and robbing him?...Did you get much out of him?"

Brannagh let out an amused scoff before laughing at him, as they walked along the beach. "Trust _you_ to only think of that. I got a good bit of money, but it's gone now. I had to use it to get from place to place. And I had to use it to survive on. Getting a job isn't always that easy you know?"

"What kind of jobs?" Jack asked, stopping and looking down at her. He had meant for it to be light but Brannagh could hear the darkness in his voice.

"Ew, Jack! No. No nothing like _that. _Christ, give me _some _dignity. I worked as a barmaid or helped carry things around from ship to ship. I worked in a bakery once, that didn't turn out to well"

"What did you do?"

"Nearly burnt the place down"

"Oh and _I'm_ the twat that set that fire that time? What is it with you and fires?"

"Oh sod off! It was once...and I didn't actually do it. I said 'nearly'. I did what was necessary to get by, while you were swanning around and getting ships, then losing them, then getting them back again"

"Oi, that wasn't my fault! Besides, I got the Pearl back so shut up"

"Oh I know, I understand….you never _were_ good at keeping anything"

"HEY!" Jack protested, as Brannagh went to make a run for it.

* * *

><p>A while later, the two made it back to the Pearl. The rest of the crew had begun cleaning and scrubbing, doing everything that they could in order to get on Jacks good side after what had happened. They were ashamed about what had happened, they knew that if they hadn't gotten drunk, Brannagh wouldn't have been taken so easily. They were overjoyed nonetheless when they saw her walking up the gangplank as if nothing had happened.<p>

Ana was the first one to move, as she ran up to her new friend and threw he arms around her, an unusual sight to behold. "Thank God, everyone is really sorry, no one meant for anything like this to happen"

"Oh just drop it already, lets just say that you all owe me and I'll collect your debts in me own time. For now, just don't mention it…now where's the rum" Brannagh said, turning around and heading below deck, leaving a silent crew and captain staring after her.

"Cap'n-" one of the crew members tried to say.

"No" Jack snapped, going to follow Brannagh below deck. She could hear him following her but she didn't say a word or turn around. She stopped once she reached the room where the rum was kept. It seemed to be her refuge room on the ship; then again, there was rum involved.

Jack had noticed how quiet Brannagh had gotten on the beach on the rest of the walk back towards the ship, and it was obvious that she didn't want to discuss anything with the crew.

"Bran luv, are you okay?" he asked, peeking into the room to see the woman slouched over, her back towards him.

"Is this going to be my life, constantly running away? I'm not a bad person, I know that. I know that I make mistakes and I might double cross people sometimes but…am I so bad that people will always want to try to catch me off guard like that?" she asked, facing the wall.

Jack sighed and walked closer towards her, this was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>"Oi Ana, what's going on over there?" Thornton asked in his Scottish accent and standing by Ana's shoulder, as she stared at the spot Brannagh had occupied just moments before.<p>

"I don't know, how would you feel if you were snatched?"

"That Brannagh one is one of the most confusing people I've come across, 'cept the cap'n o' course" this merely got him a dirty look from Ana, before she turned around and walked off.

000

"He's going to try again, I know it"

"No you don't"

"Yes I do! I knew him for years, he'll try again. What will I do…he needs to be stopped…I'll just have to kill him" Brannagh stated matter of factly, her eyes wide as she stared at the wall, an odd expression on her face.

"Look, there is no point in trying to stop you; I know that all too well. But don't put yourself in danger for the sake of it. Makes you a bad pirate" Jack teased, nudging her in the side as he took a seat beside her.

"Oh shove off...I won't go looking for him, but when he comes back for me, and he will, I'll get rid of him, permanently" There was a silence after this, allowing Jack to pry the rum from Brannaghs hand and taking a swig himself. "It feels weird, I've killed people before in self defence, but I've never exactly planned it"

"Well when it's a bad person that means you harm, you get used to it. Take me for instance" Jack began, his arms flailing around as he spoke, rum still in hand. "I had me run in with Jones and Beckett and I knew that _they_ wouldn't give up so I assisted in the plot to dispose of them"

Brannagh moved her gaze to the floor as she felt a small smile creep onto her face. Jack certainly had his way with words. "Don't get into trouble on purpose…says the fella!"

"Oi, you know as well as I that I don't go looking for trouble…it comes looking for me"

"Oh I know alright! ...I should take the advice though, seeing as it is coming from a fella that should know the codex word for word"

"Trust me luv, I don't…that would be Barbossa's field, or me fathers"

"Yeah, and what's yours then? Different varieties of rum?"

"Oh very funny" Jack replied sarcastically, going to take another swig of rum only for Brannagh to yank it out of his grasp so she could have it.

"So what happened to Barbossa then? I heard that he came back to life with some magicky hoo doo" Brannagh asked, before knocking back another swig of rum.

"It was voodoo, and I left him on a deserted island like he did to me…twice"

Brannagh decided to let this drop; she could picture Barbossa actually wasting away on some god forsaken island. She had seen him at a tavern she had been working in shortly after he had mutinied against Jack, she hadn't done anything, he had an entire crew on his side and she only had a sweeping brush.

"We all have mad stories in our pasts and odd reasons for things"

"You're telling me luv, what was it that made you get engaged to that Evan bloke, what a little blonde ponce, I know that you wanted his money but how could he have been your type?"

At this, Brannagh stood up and looked down at Jack, handing him her bottle of rum. "He wasn't, I don't blondes" she said, taking a few steps towards the door, once she was behind Jack she decided to turn around and whisper in his ear, "I prefer my fellas tall, dark and handsome" and with that, she was gone.

* * *

><p>Even though they had left Greece and had ended up docking in Italy for supplies before heading back to the Caribbean, Brannagh had yet to leave the ship. Jack had noticed, Ana had noticed and even Gibbs had taken it into account.<p>

She hadn't really thought much about stepping foot on land. She had busied herself with any job that she could find and had even begun cleaning and organizing the stock rooms. Jack knew that Brannagh never had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, seeing as when they were growing up Brannagh was the messy one. He was glad that she wasn't blaming him for anything and that she wasn't avoiding him, after all, if he had just listened to her instead of putting Brown in the brig, he wouldn't necessarily have been able to get to her, would he?

Staying on the thought of their past, Jack remembered Brannagh saying how she would love to see Italy and here they were, he knew that she had probably already seen it in the years that they were apart but still…they were in Italy at the moment and she hadn't once mentioned anything about it.

It felt odd doing so, but he knocked on his cabin door before entering. He didn't exactly know why he had done it, he just did. He admitted that he never exactly had respect for women that he had stumbled across, apart from his own mother of course. Elizabeth had stood a chance one time but all hope was lost after she had purposefully served him up to the Kraken to save her own skin. But apart from his mother, the only women that he had respect for was Brannagh. Then again, he hadn't always known her as a woman; he had seen her as a girl and witnessed her down through the years as she grew, up until the point, of course, when she had been forced to leave with her family in order to escape her abusive drunkard of a father.

Luckily for him, he hadn't said anything to her about the fact that she hadn't left the ship and neither had anyone else. Not only that, but he had also come up with a plan to get her to leave but had also planned on it being…something that would have her distracted also…in a good way, of course.

She had been staring out at the water from the window in his cabin when he had found her. She hadn't said anything when he had entered; she had merely kept her eyes trained on the water. He knew that she was a hard nut to crack but he also knew that it had come to her as a bit of a shock to run into the man whose house she had burned down. And he also knew that if someone were to burn down something that he loved, like the Pearl for example. He'd want that person to suffer before he killed them. Then again, Evan had been of the higher class and could probably afford a new house, he had probably had a better idea of suffering for her, he wouldn't be surprised if the rich prats idea was of marriage. The very idea made the pirate clench his fists and his train of thought ran off with him, once he had seen her. He hadn't had much time to see her these past few days, she had mostly kept to herself, while he had been running the ship.

Also, as much as the idea of her marrying some other man angered him, he knew that he couldn't see himself asking her either. He liked her and everything, maybe even loved her, the two of them still couldn't get over _that_ one, but the idea of marriage…you hardly ever heard of a married Captain nowadays…then again Jack had always liked the idea of being known for being the 'first' or 'only' person to do something. The Last Pirate had sounded tempting at the time, and he was already happy with the title of First Pirate To Have Found The Fountain Of Youth but… he wasn't sure about marriage, he thought that it might have made him look really soft, whether Brannagh could hold herself in a fight or not. And besides, with marriage comes kids and as much as he liked the idea of teaching someone his tricks of the trade, he was pretty sure that the crew wouldn't take kindly to children getting in the way or screaming constantly. He stopped himself there, now _that_ really w_as_ running away with himself. He had never spoken to Brannagh about children, nor would he…life had just gotten confusing…no wonder women weren't allowed onboard.

"Morning luv"

"Morning" came her nonchalant reply, still watching the water lapping against the ships nearby.

"I need a bit of help today, most of the crew are either out selling or having a good time, and I'm going to need you to come along with the rest of us to shore"

"Help? With what? Who is us?"

Jack could tell that she was trying to hide the paranoia in her voice, and she was handling it well, but he could still notice how uncomfortable she was. At least she was giving him more than one word answers. She still wouldn't look at him, so he walked over to stand next to her and kept looking out the window and back at her, an unsure expression on his face. How had she gone from being fine with everything on the beach to a paranoid shut out? On the beach she had been open and she had taken the mick out of him, yet here she was barely saying anything. She must have still been in shock on the beach. Well this trip to port was going to be his Window of Opportunity and he wasn't going to waste it. "Just to shore, we have to get supplies and we can't carry everything, besides you said that you used to carry things around from ship to ship. It'll only be ourselves, Gibbs and Ana Maria"

Brannagh sighed and looked down at her folded arms before turning around to look at him. "Okay, I'll do it"

"Lovely" Jack smiled back at her.

* * *

><p>The place wasn't exactly packed with people. It was actually the same as Greece had been. While thinking about this, Brannagh instantly thought of Christo and couldn't help but feel bad, she hadn't been able to say goodbye. It hadn't been her fault, but she still felt bad. He was like family and she never even got to give him a hug or a cheeky remark before she left. And what was Jack planning anyway? She could tell from the stupid smile on his face that he was up to something. The last time something like this had happened, they had ended up in a tavern with Jack nearly setting it on fire. What was it with them and fire anyway? She blamed him, naturally, he started it. It had only been after that incident that she found herself always burning things.<p>

While she was looking around at the scenery in awe, seeing as she had been to Italy but never this part, she could hear a hushed angry whisper and the sound of someone being kicked until she heard footsteps leaving. She was about to turn around to see what the noise was about but instead felt an arm around her shoulders and saw a ringed hand resting on one of them.

"What do ye think luv?"

Brannagh looked around anyway, just in time to see Gibbs following Ana into a throng of people. "I think if you wanted to get me on my own in the middle of an Italian town, all you had to do was ask" she replied, leaving Jack speechless. He didn't want to get a slap from her for telling her the truth about how closed off she was being. He couldn't necessarily tell her how paranoid she had been acting lately, then again, he couldn't tell her about the surprise in store either. "I bet you paid them off" She said, interrupting his inner debate before continuing, "If Ana had been told that you just wanted her to trick me onto land she wouldn't have done it, but if you'd just asked her to come along without mentioning me and paid her off as soon as she saw me and we'd reached land, she'd have to do what you said… If only all captains were as scheming and bribing as you, politics might even be easier"

"Aye, but if all captains had someone like you around, it would take all the fun out of the scheming now wouldn't it? That is, of course, if we weren't caught scheming first"

"Well…you got me alone, so what do you want to do now?"

"Well I was thinking..."

"Oh no, dangerous thing"

"Shut it…I was thinking that since you showed me around Greece and people that you knew...the nice ones" he added quickly, looking at her through the corner of his eye, "That I think that it's time for me to do the same for you" he finished, earning himself a questioning look from Brannagh. He simply ignored it and steered them down an alley. It wasn't dark, in fact, the sun was streaming overhead and the walls were painted in an odd shade of orange with flowers resting on the window sills and balconies on the top floors. There were woman standing on the balconies and putting out the washing, others were seated outside their doors and smoking while talking to other women in hushed Italian.

"So where are we going?"

"To see an old friend, I helped him out of a few scratches and now he owns his own place so he owes me. Here we are"

Brannagh looked to where Jack was pointing. They were outside some big black hole in the wall and couldn't help giving a look that questioned his sanity. "Well, go on, ladies first". If it weren't for the fact that Brannagh knew Jack would never hurt her and also feared a slap from her, she would never have gone, but seeing as it was Jack, she just sighed and walked into the huge shadow slowly. Less than five steps forward, she noticed that there were stairs leading up and slowly took her time, if she fell she'd do more than slap the man behind her.

"I bet you're loving this"

"On the contrary now, seeing as its pitch black I'm missing out on the view…Ow!"

"Watch it" the black haired woman warned.

Eventually Brannagh saw some light and eagerly began to follow it. Once the light began to shine on the steps, she practically jogged up the rest of the stairs before stopping in her tracks. It was like a restaurant, but on a roof. Vines were wrapped around the pillars which kept up the roof, only it wasn't a roof, it was actually pieces of wood which were criss-crossed to block out the sun, but still allowed some streams of light to come through. From up here, Brannagh could see the entire town. She could see the spires of the cathedral at the other side of town from here and hear the faint hustle and bustle from the streets below. It was absolutely amazing. It also gave Jack a huge kick from the look on her face, a look which he hadn't seen in ages and was proud that he had been the cause of now. He would of loved to have stood there for the rest of the day, just to see her watching the town with wide and curious eyes but he also knew that he couldn't, they needed to talk and he needed to make sure that it happened today.

They found a table for two by the railing, which over looked the town, and sat down across from each other. At least she had begun to show some sort of positive emotion before the discussion started, that must've been a good sign, right? The thought made Jack sigh but he wasn't going to let his window of opportunity pass him by.

Once a bottle of white wine was placed in front of them, he decided that now would be the time to start, part of that reason being that he didn't like the wine. Rum would always be his drink. "Look" he began, only to be cut off.

"I know, and I'm sorry"

Jack gave the woman across from him a quizzical look. She hadn't read his mind had she? Then again she knew him very well and he had seen her do things that he thought she couldn't before, why should now be any different? "You know?"

"Yeah I do, and I completely understand, I'd get rid of me over it. I mean you sail even when...you're the way that I was"

"Wait, what?"

"I mean seriously, the only time that you'd get away with it is when you physically can't. Like if you lost a leg for instance, you'd go straight to the kitchen, and I didn't even do that. I just cleaned the store rooms and then locked myself away."

"Bran...what are you talking about?" Jack asked, as if she were a crazy woman, then again she was apparently _his_ woman so she probably _was_ crazy to put up with him in the first place.

"You're getting rid of me"

"Am I? That's news to me"

"Huh?"

"Great, so now the feeling of confusion is mutual"

"What were _you_ on about?"

"I was trying to ask you what was wrong with you and why you've turned into a complete shut out, that's what!"

"Oh"

"Yeah, oh"

"I'm sorry"

"You've already said that, and I told you earlier to stop saying it" Jack replied, eyes softening and voice lowering as he looked right into her eyes. This was followed by a silence; it wasn't an awkward though, for once. Jack was waiting for Brannagh to speak, and Brannagh was trying to find the right words to voice what she was thinking, in the end she gave up though, and just came out with it.

"I'm scared"

"Of what luv?"

"Of everything, of being hurt, of more strangers from my past coming back, or the bad ones at least"

"Look, nothing is going to happen to you-"

"Can you honestly say the same thing about yourself?"

"'Course I can, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow" Jack replied with a cheeky grin, sitting up and trying to fix his coat, which Brannagh couldn't see how he was wearing, it was sweltering over here. The sun was belting down on them, then again, he was used to the Caribbean, yet for some reason she wasn't. She had no clue as to how this happened, just like Jack didn't know how she never fully tanned. It certainly was an odd world.

"That doesn't mean anything, and somewhere in your mind you know that, confidence doesn't get you everywhere, and neither does luck. And I don't have the best of luck right now"

"Well I have good luck, so I'd say we're fine"

"What if my bad luck and your good luck cancel each other out? Then there would be no luck in the equation, we'd just be plain Joe's"

"Actually, I'd be a plain Jack"

"JACK! This isn't the time for playing games. God, I don't even know why I said anything"

"It's because I asked, and you try not to lie to me, you think it's a bad example, even now when we're adults...oh and for the record, this whole 'Bran's bad luck' thing, is only temporary, it was a once off."

"That's not true" Brannagh mumbled into her hands, which were rested on the table, her head down.

"Yes it is, when we were kids you'd do the exact same, I was lucky just to make it to the rock pools with you."

"I nicked that apple with you!"

"Because you were hungry, different circumstances, besides I'm talking mostly about lying to people, like your parents about where you're going or what you're thinking."

"Oh, go away"

Jack chuckled, whenever Brannagh got too tired to argue, she would always just tell her opponent to either 'go away' or 'get lost'. "Look, no one is going to tie you up and hurt you like that again, I promise"

"Don't make a promise you can't be sure to keep... It's not just that anyway"

"I'm wounded luv, do you really think so little of me" Jack feigned hurt, his eyes wide, making Brannagh look up from her hands and giggle quietly at him. "Come on then, out with it. What is it, really?"

"I don't want you to get hurt"

"Don't worry about me luv, I won't mind, so spill"

"No, I mean, I don't want you to get hurt. Or getting in the way of any danger I may be in against these strangers" Brannagh replied, tears springing to her eyes.

"You must really have done a lot of bad things to a lot of people; don't you ever worry about 'what goes around, comes around'?"

"They deserved it, and I don't regret any of it, they were all prats anyway"

Brannagh's voice was beginning to crack now and Jack could sense the waterworks coming. It made him a bit uncomfortable, yet he was happy that she was getting all of this out of the way, the sooner she had a meltdown and cracked, the sooner she would be back to normal. He was beginning to miss their arguments at the helm. "I don't want people turning up that I've done wrong to. I don't want to be tied up and beaten, I don't want _you_ to be tied up and beaten, and I don't want it to happen to any of the crew. I don't want you to get yourself killed. I don't want..." Brannagh's head fell and she looked down at her lap, trying to hold back tears but failing, "I don't want you to leave" she whispered.

Jack finally got it. Brannagh had grown up having to lose people, when she had had to run as a child, or as a traveller, she had always left friends and family behind. He knew that she had probably thought of Christo as an example. She had spent her entire life losing people, she had even lost him once and now that she had found him again she didn't want history to repeat itself.

"Look, I ain't going anywhere. If anyone of us ends winds up leaving the other, it will be you leaving me. I know I'm not the most normal or mannerly out there. You are my best friend, always have and always will be. You'll get sick of me, I can assure you"

"Oh shut up"

"No, it's true." Jack shook his head, not going to listen to any of her protestations. "And I honestly can say, I wouldn't know what to feel if you stayed, I side of me expects it, yet another side of me thinks that you're just as loony"

By this time, he had Brannagh in tears, her eyes were beginning to redden, yet she still smiled regardless.

"Oh my God, how did I survive all those years without you and you're nonsense?"

"Well I think that just shows that one of us may need the other and vice versa. I ain't throwing you off the ship, and hopefully you won't kick me off. I'd kill ye if ye did". This made Brannagh laugh through her tears, her eyes sparkling. She sniffled and began to look around the table, before picking up a napkin and wiping her tears away. She looked back to the pirate and sighed, "You absolute idiot"

"Well at least I'm a lovable idiot"

Brannagh smiled again and looked down before looking back out to the city. "It really is beautiful from here. How did you find the place?"

"Well it's a funny story actually, a few years back I was running from some blokes, can't remember why, but I was running and needed a place to hide and I saw this place which was pitch black and figured that I could hide in there. I thought it was just a normal alley at the time really. I went to follow down it but found out that it went up stairs. And me, being the adventurous and dashing captain that I am, decided to follow it. When I reached the top all this was just a roof, just a normal roof top with absolutely nothing on it. I walked around it and found this bugger asleep on the bloody roof. In the end I got to know him, his name's Andre by the way. He told me how he loved to cook and wanted to start his own business. I helped him anyway I could really, and he seems to really have done well for himself. I feel sorry the poor geezers who had to carry up all those bricks up those stairs in order to make the wall though" Jack laughed.

"How long has he been in business?"

"He started up around five years ago; I promised I'd call in. I think it's a bit poncy for my taste, if I'm being honest. I suppose the streets might do that for you, makes you hungry for the best things in life, or makes you to want to out do yourself. I don't know. I'll never get it. You may get fights in places like Tortuga, but food and drink wise, it's nicer. And besides, who doesn't love a good fight now and again? In Tortuga, you can never be looked down upon, although here, everyone wants to look down their noses at everyone else."

"I just think that you love that place too much, I get what you mean about looking down at people, but too be honest, Tortugan's just all need to have a bath and at least one lesson in etiquette, and this is coming from_ me!_ I am against those stupid poxy lessons, so that's saying something!" after her little speech, Brannagh decided to finally take a sip of her wine, before finally adding, "And talking about drink, I know you wanted to do something nice and all, but can we please go somewhere to get a decent drink, like rum"

Jack flashed a full grin at her "Thought you'd never ask."

**Poor Andre missed out. Jack finally popped in for a visit and he wasn't there.**

**I'm writing this on a ship by the way. I'm such a pirate. The next chapter has already been started. Sorry again for the wait, this was just really hard to focus on and stuff, but don't worry. I've got plans! I'm also working on some other material. I've got some more pirates, some Harry Potter, some Vampire Diaries (on a break though)...And I've also got some Dark Knight. **

**Remember to go onto my Facebook! Click 'Homepage' or copy the link from my page!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter by the way!**

**Review!**

**CaptainSkitz ;)**


	6. Need

**Once again, sorry for the wait. You know what; from now on just don't believe anything I say concerning the dates of when I update, because something ALWAYS comes up. Even though I've just finished this chapter, my internet is gone. Some company problems are after banjaxing the connection. So I'm finished this chapter, but I haven't uploaded it as I am writing this, and seeing as you are probably reading it now, I've probably started on the next chapter. But don't get your hopes up. Like I said, don't trust me.**

**Thank you to everyone who decided to follow me on facebook, of you want to do so now because you forgot or because you just recently started reading this, the link of on my page or you can just click 'homepage' which is above my user picture.**

**And without further adieu, I give you chapter six...enjoy.**

_Chapter 6: Need_

It had been three days since the crew of the Black Pearl had arrived in Italy. Originally it had been only for supplies before they headed back to the Caribbean but they had ended up staying. Brannagh was finally back to normal, to Jack and Ana's relief. Ana had grown pretty close to the only other female onboard and was glad that Brannagh had returned to making fun of Jack and bantering with the rest of the crew.

During their stay in Italy, a few crew members had gotten off, but they had been some of the members that Brannagh hadn't yet talked to. Jack had been a bit edgy about leaving them go but, even if he had tried to prevent them, he was powerless. They were fully grown men and there were more of them compared to Jack, who was only one person. Brannagh honestly thought that if a man were to say he was leaving so soon after the others had left, Jack would certainly lose the rag altogether. Jack thought that the men would wind up telling someone, even someone who had known Brannagh, about everything. Besides, it would be harder to sail the ship now, and that concerned him too. But it was the first reason that scared him the most. Brown had confessed to getting drunk in a tavern when he had been confronted by Evan. And Jack had still only gotten Brannagh back, even if it had been around a month by now.

Getting out of the Mediterranean should be a piece of cake, Jack thought, as he stood at the helm. It was the ocean that could get bad; there was bigger chance of getting caught up in a bad storm there. Italy had shrunk into the distance along with Brannaghs now forgotten distant behaviour. The crew of the Black Pearl were now passing Spain and in good spirits, happy to finally be heading home, or into more familiar waters at least.

It was at that afternoon, just off the coast of Portugal, that Jacks thoughts had been proven wrong. Just as the crew had begun to take it easy for a while, it begun to rain which had shortly been accompanied by wind. In no time, it had turned into a fully fledged storm and the crew had been forced to sail in the lashing rain. Unlike the fight, this time Jack hadn't said anything to Brannagh, knowing that it was no use, and had gone about his own duties. Brannagh had been happy with this and had gone to help Ana Maria with tying knots and holding down ropes. They were standing near the mast, trying to stay standing in the lashing rain and the violent rocking of the ship, while Jack had tried to steer clear.

Fifteen minutes into the storm, the ship had jerked up suddenly and splashed into the water again, causing even Ana Maria to scream. Under any normal circumstances, the crew probably would've stared at her but they couldn't afford to at that moment in time, they'd take the piss out of her later, right now they had to focus on making sure that they got out of the storm alive first.

It was after the storm that the crew had seen that the ship had been badly damaged and how it would practically be suicide to try and sail across the Atlantic with damages. That was why they were docked in Portugal at the moment. And it was also why Brannagh was stretched out on a wall with her eyes closed and a bottle of rum in her hands. The sun was shining down on the beach on which the Pearl had been tied down and repairs were currently being made. Jack was angry that they couldn't get back to the Caribbean but Brannagh secretly suspected that he was only acting this way because he couldn't go and do what he usually did when he was stranded in Europe, which was probably to go to the nearest tavern filled with wenches. She smirked at the idea and the thought of his discomfort...no that wasn't the word, the thought of his...she couldn't think of the word right now but she knew that it would probably hit her later that night when she _wasn't _thinking about it.

"What are you smirking about over here?" Jack asked annoyed, pushing her feet off the wall and sitting down beside her.

"Just about the rut you're stuck in" Brannagh replied, a little too cheerily for his liking.

"Oh please, you're just as stuck as I am"

"Not really, if you think about it"

"Oh great, not another one of Brannaghs intellectual moments"

"You love them, admit it" Brannagh replied to his cheekiness, before taking a swig from her bottle, "Anyway I can leave any time I want, It's all I've been doing for the past fifteen years, besides, my point is; I can leave right now if I wanted, but you can't because you're a captain, so you can't just abandon everyone and everything"

That sentence left Jack with a funny look on his face, the one he got when he started thinking which Brannagh found adorable, but she'd never actually tell him that. She may be honest when it came to him, or as honest as she could be, but she wouldn't tell him something like that when she knew that he would make fun of her over it or try to use it to his advantage, which she knew, he would.

Their relationship was an odd one, it had always been odd in a way, seeing as it had been strange for a boy and a girl to become so close when they were younger, but now things were confusing yet comfortable. They both admitted that they liked each other yet they still didn't believe that it was love; they partly hoped it was, even though they never told the other that they hoped it was. They were both so new to everything and they had kissed and they hadn't _not_ enjoyed it but it was still a very odd relationship.

"So…speaking of ships, how much longer until that one is finished, I'm getting bored!" Brannagh exclaimed, pointing towards the Pearl.

"Bored. How can you be bored? You're in the middle of Portugal, on a sandy beach with rum and good weather, I'm not even forcing you to work…then again, you'd complain about that too!" Jack retorted, snatching away her rum, earning himself a dirty look in his direction. Brannagh huffed in contempt and looked away. Jack refused to feel guilty and instead looked off in the opposite direction that she was looking and took a swig of her rum, well _his_ rum; if he thought about it, she had gotten it from _his_ ship.

"I just am…besides I'd probably make the hole in your ship bigger, which is why you're not making me work and you know it" It was an odd sight to behold, watching the captain and the woman sitting together on a wall but looking out in completely different directions in stubbornness, it looked as if it belonged in a painting. Brannagh was sure that if it _did_ become a painting, it would become very well known because of how it should the interaction, or lack of in some cases, between men and women. It would probably end up in the Louvre.

"Oh shove off, I'm busy"

"Yeah, drinking my rum"

"My ship, my rum" Jack defended, trying to resist looking at her and barely succeeding.

"_I_ took it from the store room which _I,_ by the way, sorted out on my own!"

"My store room"

"I got it myself, go get your own"

"But this _is_ my own"

"Oh for the love of-" Brannagh was getting impatient and this had resulted in her being the one who lost the avoiding competition. She snapped her body around to face him and tried to grab her drink back but he had simply moved further down the wall. Brannagh wasn't going to give up that easily and got up on her knees, trying too get back her drink which was being dangled in front of her. "Give it back Sparrow"

"No, I'm rather enjoying this"

"Oh I'll give you something to enjoy in a minute"

"Yes, I bet you will…ow, don't hit your captain!"

"_My_ Captain, so I'll hit him as much as I like, have you seen him around by any chance?"

"Oh very funny"

Brannagh thought that this little banter had taken his mind from the rum and lurched forward, trying to snatch it back. Instead, Jack had grabbed onto it tightly and fell off the wall with Brannagh, landing in a heap on the sand. Once they hit the ground she still wouldn't give up and they wound up rolling around trying to get the bottle. Jack refused to let her have it but he also knew that if _he_ had it, she'd never give up so he threw it into the air, hoping to get it far away and latched his arms around her waist so she couldn't get up and get the bottle, and also because he liked holding her by her waist, he had to admit.

Instead of hearing a thud on the sand next to them, they heard a huge crash and looked around to see pieces of broken glass by the stone wall. Jack must have thrown the bottle up against the wall, not watching what he was doing.

"Oh good going"

"Thanks luv"

Brannagh looked down at him with an unintentional pout on her face. She noticed how he only referred to her as 'luv' whenever he was in a good mood. This was the first time all day. Well, at least she had gotten him in a good mood. It was amazing what rum could do, even when it was being argued over instead of being drunk.

"Yer the biggest twat that ever lived, now go and get me more rum"

"No"

"Yes"

"No, a captain never gets bossed around by his own crew"

"Technically I'm not part of the crew and you broke the last one, therefore you replace it…I'll share this time"

"Oh please, I'm not gonna fall for that one luv, I'm smarter than ye think. Seriously, you'd share? Either you've already drank too much or your not Brannagh because the sober Brannagh that I know would never share."

"Well was she stuck for it all of those other times?"

Jack looked away, thinking again but this time confused, before saying "Shut up"

Brannagh couldn't help but laugh as she looked at the ship and back at him, her hair falling around her face.

000

Ana huffed as she hammered at the wood she was holding up, trying to fill in a hole in the ship. They had been at this for hours and she was tired, she just wanted to go home…or drinking, preferably drinking. She just wanted to sit down and relax really. She thought about what she would do after all of the repairs were finished but got interrupted when she heard a 'Psst' in her direction. She looked around, trying to find the source. She saw Woody's grey eyes looking back at her and walked over to him, half angry at being interrupted but also half happy _for_ the interruption. "What is it?"

Woody pointed over to the wall and Ana let her gaze travel over to where he was looking to find her captain and her friend on the ground. Ana rolled her eyes. It was obvious that the two had a bit of a thing _for _the other. It was obvious to the rest of the crew as much as it was to her. The scene made her a bit sick yet she was happy that _they_ were happy. She knew that her captain could get any woman he virtually wanted but she also knew that Brannagh wasn't someone you could just tamper with. Brannagh would certainly put him in his place, which is exactly what he needed and he knew that but he also knew what he needed to do in order to keep her happy and how to keep her that way. She was a woman who would sail and drink rum and fight, which was certainly a rare find. The two of them knew the other one very well and knew how the other worked. Brannagh was probably the only person in the world who knew what was going on in the head of Jack Sparrow, and Ana found that incredibly handy to have around.

"Oh get lost Woody! It's none of your business…besides, are you even surprised? Ye've been here almost as long as me" Ana snapped back at the blonde man and turned back to her work. The other crew members were giving wary looks in her direction, if Ana weren't here, they would have thrown jokes around flying back and forth but they all knew that Ana was after befriending Brannagh, and seeing as Ana wasn't the most sociable person on the ship, they also knew that she would throttle anyone who said anything about her only female company on the ship. The crew worked in silence after Ana snapped at Woody but the silence didn't last long after one of the other members nudged the man beside him and pointed to a nearby disfigured crab and started cracking jokes about it. Ana just rolled her eyes and thought about how childish these fully grown men were. _Do they ever grow up?_

000

Just as the sun was beginning to disappear, the men were given a break and permission to go into the town, with the exception of the four that would guard the ship, thanks to the elbow that Brannagh had literally given Jack after he was about to say 'two'. So while Woody, thanks to Ana, and three other men were left pining on the ship, the rest of the crew had gone into town, eager to have a good time after a long day's hard work.

Brannagh was a little unsure about where she would end up, she knew that Jack would wind up bringing her somewhere, he'd started keeping her in his line of vision at all times once they got on land since the Greece Incident. She didn't feel up to the claustrophobia of a stuffy tavern surrounded by drunks and whores, but she didn't want to hike somewhere just to see some historic or cultural landmark, she just wasn't in the mood. So it obviously came as a shock to her when she was brought to a tavern but led around it. Obviously the pirate beside her had been here before. It was a strange feeling for the pair, knowing that the other had been to the same countries but just in different parts, maybe even at the same time, like France.

Behind the tavern, was a set up which looked sort of like the Italian restaurant on the roof. It over looked the sea and instead of pieces of wood being kept up by the wooden pillars, there were strings of lanterns. Out here you could occasionally hear an odd scream or shout from the inside but mostly you could hear the waves. There were tables, but they were all empty, the lanterns illuminating colours of red and orange upon them.

The two took the table in the middle of the area and were immediately met by a teenage Spanish boy, who set two full champagne glasses on the table before running off. Brannagh burst out into a fit of laughter while she watched Jack try the drink in front of him.

"Oh...the idea...of you...with champagne...oh this is fantastic" she giggled uncontrollably.

"Well...you try it then" he smirked back, as if he knew something which she didn't. His sentence made her laughter come to an abrupt halt before she quickly picked up the glass and shot back its contents, "Its rum...this isn't champagne. It's rum! Oh my God those cheap pirates"

"Oi"

"Oh come on, you're not cheap, you were always into the big and flashy and you know it...did you plan this?"

"No...I just knew about this place, I just never came out here before"

"Because the entertainment was just so good" Brannagh teased, leaning her folded arms on the table.

"Oh ha ha" came the sarcastic reply.

"I bet this is their way of over charging rum to the fancy people"

"Only if the fancy people were so stuck as to enter a tavern such as this one"

"True true, handy for us though. Champagne is a disgusting drink; I don't know how the ponces drink it at all...or caviar. I mean, seriously, fish eggs? That is just wrong. Stick to lobster"

"You know, years ago lobster was the only thing that prisoners were given to eat, and they had a protest to stop it because they were so tired of it. It could be why the rich went for caviar"

"Yet lobster for them is still pricey"

"Yes, for some unfathomable reason, I mean we'd get it for free"

"Because we know people that can easily get it and we can catch it ourselves"

"Good point, couldn't imagine some well-to-do fella trying to set up a fishing net, that would be quiet funny actually"

"It would be like seeing a fish out of water"

"Or a sheep out of land" Jack added, making Brannagh stick out her tongue at him like a child.

"So you _were _here before" Brannagh said out of the blue, preventing silence and changing the subject before an argument could arise. Jack looked from his drink up to her and raised an eyebrow as if to say 'of course'. "What did you make of it?"

"I was first here the year after you left actually, I didn't know a word of Spanish and everything was different and it's all religious here too."

"Was this after you ran away?"

"Might be, might not"

"Hey!...So how long are the repairs going to take anyway? I'm still impatient"

"Oh please, when were ye ever patient?"

That brought Brannagh up short, she wasn't able to come up with a time when she had been patient, she had always rushed. Even when she left Evan she had been in a rush, if she had taken her time she might not have hit that trunk, or whatever it was, and hurt her foot, she might not have had to run and knock over that lamp and may never have set fire to his house in the first place. If Brannagh had taken her time, there was a chance that Evan would have never come looking for her.

"Wha', what is it?"

"Do you think that, if I were a patient person, I may never have run into Evan again like I did?"

"Luv, ye were always going to run into him again, besides, you _did_ rob the man. And even if you were a patient person, would we have met again?"

"Would I have left in the first place?"

"You're not being fair on yourself now, that was because you were following your family, you had no choice there"

"Well I have to get my impatience from somewhere. I may have been able to stay and be patient and put up with it"

"Then you could have wound up dead, and that's not fair on me now, is it?"

"Are you trying to say that my lack of patience makes good and bad things happens so they cancel each other and Karma doesn't care?"

"...yes?"

"Ugh, this is making my head begin to hurt, new conversation topic!"

"Erm... the prison cells here are comfy enough"

"What? What kind of subject is that? Why did you come up with it anyway?"

"Because it's my turn, you were the one that said you had no patience."

"Yeah, but prison cells? How many times have you been arrested anyway? Were you nicked here the first time?"

"What's wrong with it, its normal pirate talk. And to answer you're first question luv, I have no idea, you lose count. How many times have you been shoved into a brig?"

"Seven, now answer my other question"

"Seven? Wait, what other question?"

"Yes seven, and I asked if you were arrested the first time you were here"

"Couldn't, I ran into me Da as few days into my little adventure?"

"And?"

"And what?"

"...I don't even want to know"

Brannagh looked out at the waves crashing against the rocks. It was much nicer than when she was in Greece, she had been trapped then and didn't know what was going to happen, but here she felt safe and she was outside and she knew that she was okay. She looked over to Jack to see that he was fiddling with one of his rings and smirked, _typical_

"Jack"

"Yes luv"

"Do they do food here?"

"I don't know, why?"

"Because they'd make a fortune if they did, from where they are"

"I heard the owner was in a bit of debt actually"

"Course he is, the pirates coming in here are probably conning the poor bugger left right and centre"

"Except me" Jack defended.

"Please, you did it at least once. You can't tell me that you've never did it, or broken any law for that matter"

"Well...yeah...but it depends on a lot of things"

"Like?"

"Like...who it is and what they're like, how I'm feeling...lots of things.

"And what is it about this place that stops you?"

"They give you rum in fancy glasses and the owner is suffering and he's a nice enough bloke, he helped me on more than one occasion"

"Fine, fine"

"Did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Did you con people at a tavern?"

"I think you're forgetting that I worked at one"

"So? Doesn't make a difference."

"Touché"

"If I worked there before and they were prats, then yeah...and maybe if the service itself was terrible"

"See?"

"Yeah well, you have a reputation to uphold, you have to break rules on a daily basis. I don't. You have to feel the pressure"

"That's not true"

"Yes it is and you know it"

"Is not"

"Is to"

"Is not"

"Is to"

"Is-"

"Would you like anything else?" the waiter from earlier said, making himself known and handing out two more glasses and menu's.

"No" both Jack and Brannagh said in unison, frightening the waiter a bit. He quickly nodded and hurried inside, fearful of the customers.

Instead of picking back up the fight, Jack picked up the menu and eyed it curiously, making Brannagh do the same.

"Pirate" Jack said casually as he watched the menu, as if he were reading it.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't bother with the manners luv, you're a pirate."

"Really? Am I now? This is certainly news to me" Brannagh replied, sarcasm thick in her voice as she kept her eyes trained on her menu, just as Jack was still doing.

"Yes, you cheat someone for money to teach them a lesson, a non-pirate would have paid anyway, you took the risk and walked off. You're a pirate, admit it. Then again you're a Shipwrecker"

"Am not"

"I don't mean it like a home-wrecking slag; I meant it to say you're _from_ Shipwreck. You're actually alright on a ship for a woman"

"Wait till Ana hears you said that"

"You won't tell her"

"Won't I?"

"No and besides I don't see her as a woman on the ship"

"Know she'll _really _be pissed."

Jack rolled his eyes at his menu but replied anyway, "Don't mean it like that-"

"You really do have a great way with words don't you?"

"Look, I was giving you a compliment, so just take it"

"Fine, I will"

"Fine!"

Both huffed and returned to their reading before Brannagh had to break it with,"What the hell kind of food is this?"

000

Brannagh sat near the wall, still behind the restaurant. Some of the crew had come out and asked for Jack to join them and had she had forced him to go, saying that she was only going to be outside, he could practically see her from a window anyway!

The sun had gone down by now and the lanterns were a comfort to have at this time of night. She had confronted the waiter about how she knew she hadn't been drinking champagne and told him to just save them all the time and effort and just get her a bottle, so she was now perched near the wall _with_ some rum to keep her ,and the waves, company. The repairs to the ship would be finished in less than a week and that was good to know. All was finally right in the world, for now.

Brannagh sighed in contentment, the breeze blowing her hair back gently. She thought that she might find Ana or head back to the others that were on patrol on the ship, so she got up and went over to the door, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a man standing at the front corner of the tavern. She hid behind the corner and quietly stuck out her head to get a better view of the man, her eyes flaring with anger and hatred.

The man she thought they had left in Greece was currently here. He was standing around, smoking, but looking alert. Probably because he's selling someone else out again, Brannagh thought. She knew that she had given him no reason to like her, seeing as she'd hurt him bad enough and lost him his place on the Pearl, which was a ship that nearly everyone sought to be on. But she'd only done it because he'd been trying to get a little _too_ close. It was self defence; she was thinking over and over, as she slunk into the shadows and began to creep closer, once she noticed that he was beginning to pace back and forth. As soon as Brannagh had hid behind a tree, Brown huffed and put out his cigarette, stomping on the bud, before walking off quickly down the street. Brannagh sighed in exasperation and looked back to the wall she had been at before quickly legging it after him, hiding behind closed up stalls and buildings as she did so, fearing she'd be seen.

The place he was staying at was run down and it was easy enough to pick open the lock. He was staying in a block of flats, ironically, and was near the very top floor. Brannagh kept her ear to his door, making sure he was far away from it, before she opened it.

Upon entering, she noticed the place was only one room, and that the only objects in the room were a creaky wooden chair and a ripped and torn hay mattress. Brown was by the window, staring at her open mouthed.

"Miss me?"

Brown said nothing; he looked terrified, probably thinking that Brannagh had the rest of the crew with her. He was much skinnier now, he face almost gaunt and sickly. Bags were under his eyes and his clothes were in tatters. Brannagh wondered why he had been standing outside the bar when he seemed so sober. And that was exactly the first question that she was going to start off with. She took no hesitation in going over to him and punching him in the jaw before pushing him up against the wall. The man felt like a bag of bones. She was lucky to have recognized him because he looked very different, compared to their last encounter.

"Why are you here?" she growled into his ear.

"I don't know"

"Yes you do, otherwise you wouldn't be here, tell me the truth!" she nearly shouted, shoving him into the wall again, giving the man a sense of de ja vu. He couldn't help but feel the familiarity or being held down for information by Jack when she was doing it.

"I needed to leave Greece, or I was a dead man"

"So why here? And why now?"

"Because it was where the ship I was on was headed, and anywhere was better than there"

She may not have liked him, but Brannagh did have to give him that. Evan was very dangerous to be around when he was angry, she even had the scars to prove it. It had been another one of the reasons why she had left in the first place. She let out a breath of anger. She had been planning on him saying something along the lines of him wanting to get revenge or something, but he had merely been running from the same person that she, herself, had been running from. She couldn't kill him over that. So she did the next best thing, she pulled him away from the wall and punched him in the face. He fell into a heap on the ground, clutching his face, allowing Brannagh easy access to kick him in the stomach. It was as if she was venting out all her anger on Evan, but using Brown as the punch bag to do it. She was still angry at him for selling her out in the first place, whether she hurt him first or not, he hurt her once she had been tied down. He had also untied her before leaving but that didn't earn him any points, Evan could have ordered that, maybe even to sweeten her up first. Either way, it was her turn to torture him now.

000

Brannagh slowly walked down the street, she had some of Browns blood on her sleeves, she wasn't harmed, only him. Ana spotted her, while Brannagh was walking and wondering whether or not to tell Jack that she was heading back to the ship. "Bran! What are ye doing? What happened? Who tried to hurt you?"

"I'm insulted" Brannagh panted, even though she had been walking, it was tiring beating up scum in the flat, "You honestly don't think I'm capable of even _starting_ a fight?"

"Only stupid or drunk pirates do that. Tell me what happened"

"Can I do it when we get back?"

"Does Jack know?"

"That I was in a fight or that I'm going back?"

"I was originally going to ask the latter, but I'd like both answers now"

"No"

"To which?"

"Both"

"Okay then, I'll go and tell him and meet you back at the ship, and you better be there!"Ana called, beginning to run back into the tavern. Brannagh rolled her eyes and started off in the direction of the ship. She had beaten Brown, threatened him and left him go. She felt like a nice person doing a good deed by letting him go, even though he deserved to rot in the flames of hell. She didn't know how she was going to go about telling Ana though, she'd probably say that it was stupid to go after him and that she should have told someone from the ship first instead of going after him herself. Brannagh knew it was dangerous but wasn't it dangerous to stay on a feared pirate ship too?

She saw the men on patrol sitting on barrels and playing poker as she walked up the gang plank and gave them a feeble wave, before walking over to them, not seeing anything else better to do.

"How's Brannagh this fine evening?" asked Walker, a twinkle in his eye.

"Ugh, waiting for Ana"

"Uh oh, I know that face, what did you do?" Woody grinned down at his cards, before choosing one from his hand to put down on the barrel in the middle of the men's circle, which was acting as a table. He was probably a little smug that he wasn't the only one to have gotten into trouble with Ana Maria today.

"Didn't wait?" Brannagh said, making it sound like more of a question. She had decided to twist the truth. In a way, she hadn't waited for Ana to tell her that she had found Brown and she hadn't gotten her to come along with her to follow him, but if she hadn't of gone when she did, she'd have lost him and her chance along with it. She knew that Ana would have done the same anyway!

"Naughty naughty!" another one of the patrolling pirates said, immersed in his cards. He was wearing a fading blue bandana, which looked more like a rag than anything else. His face was covered in grime and he had a cigarette in his mouth. Brannagh had seen him around but still hadn't learned his name. She mentally scoffed, remembering the memory she had of Jack accusing her of leading a mutiny by warming up to the crew.

"Yeah well..."

"Look, here she comes now" Woody pointed out, his empty hand pointing behind Brannagh, making her turn around to see Ana running up the gangplank with an agitated face.

"Good luck"

"Make sure to stay near the door"

"Make sure you have your sword"

"Best of luck"

The pirates wished Brannagh luck, obviously fearing Ana's wrath for her, and giving her pieces of advice. Brannagh would have laughed but she knew that the men were serious and also knew that Ana was still angry with her, if her expression was anything to go by. Ana was acting like a strict parent or a teacher that the children would have feared.

Once they were safely out of an earshot below deck, Ana spun around planning on scaring her into telling her the story, but Brannagh preferred not to waste any time what so ever. "I found Brown"

Instead of glaring daggers at the woman across from her as planned, Ana's mouth practically hit the floor. She looked like a goldfish. "What?"

"I found him, he was outside the tavern, pacing. And then he walked off and I followed him, and by the way, if I were to look for you and get you to come along, I would have lost him! So anyway, I followed him back to his place and..." Brannagh stopped, how could she tell Ana that she had attacked him? Then again, Ana would be on her side, seeing as Brown had done the same to her.

Ana had ended up taking her pause the wrong way, "He attacked you?" she asked, the anger becoming evident in her voice.

"No...erh...I attacked him. I couldn't help it. And he was weak, was it wrong of me to do that? I mean he looked starved and-"

Ana came closer to Brannagh and placed both hands on her shoulders, looking her dead in the eyes. "Bran, you have done nothing wrong. That man hurt you and he deserved what he got. What goes around comes around. He got just that. Now please stop beating yourself up about all of this, okay?"

Brannagh nodded and Ana let go of her shoulders before taking a step back. "Any idea about what you're going to tell Jack?"

"Nothing, he doesn't need to know"

"Bran-"

"No seriously, I'll change my top and say that I spilled rum on it, or something"

"You can't do that"

"And why not?"

"Because I told him that something happened"

"No you didn't, because if you did, he'd be here right now and demanding an explanation"

"He _did_ demand an explanation. But I made him stay"

Brannagh paused, not noticing that she had been pacing back and forth. Trust Ana to make Jack stay somewhere and succeed, she thought. Ana was like the uncalled for third wheel that was sometimes taken for granted but always loved to have around.

"When he comes back, he's going to go straight to you"

"Can't you deal with it" Brannagh said, almost in a whine. She was tired and she didn't want to have to deal with all of this right now. She loved Ana like a sister, she really did, but right now she just wanted to strangle her.

"No... Look, I see how the two of you are when you're both around each other and let me tell you, if you were to tell him to jump, he'd ask you how high, even though he might not know it. You could say that you shot a saint because you felt like it and Jack would instantly take your side"

"But he'll also be pissed off at me for running off on my own to find a man that had me kidnapped, tied to a chair and beaten!"

"You did what?" came a new voice. Ana looked behind Brannagh and nodded once in the direction of the door before leaving the room to leave Brannagh and Jack, who was still standing by the door, talk everything over.

"Sorry?" Brannagh squeaked, still not turning around to face the pirate at the door.

"What were you thinking?"

"To not tell you because I knew that this is exactly how you would act!" Brannagh snapped, finally spinning around to face him, noticing that he had taken a few steps forward.

"Oh really? And how am I bloody acting?"

"Like I'm a child!"

"Well can you blame me?"

"And WHAT is that supposed to mean?" Brannagh asked, outraged.

"Are you trying to get yerself killed? A child would have more sense!"

"Well excuse ME! If my mentality isn't up to your standard, Captain" Brannagh spat at him, folding her arms and turning away.

"Don't you turn your back on me!"

"Oh yeah? And why not?"

"Because...because I said so"

"Really? YOU said it? I never would have guessed! I should do it more often then, seeing as I'm the child but you're the one full of childish come backs!"

In all the years they had known each other, they had never had a fight like this one, and in all of those fights, Jack had never raised his hand to Brannagh and he vowed that he never would, especially after learning about her father and the promise that she had made to her mother, he didn't want her leaving him again and he wasn't going to screw everything up. So even though he wouldn't be violent towards her, he stilled grabbed her by her arm and spun her around to see the anger in her eyes.

"Please try to see things from my point of view"

"I see someone getting payback that I should be backing up"

"That's not my point of view"

Brannagh raised an angry eyebrow, thinking that he was blowing off the last bit that she had said. Jack, quickly realising his mistake, rushed to fix his mistake, "Oh no no! I'll stand by you every step of the way, and I understand you wanted to be even with him, but you still should have-"

"What? Gone to get you to tag along? I would have lost him!"

"Well you know where he stays now"

"I already sorted him out, there's no need anymore"

Jack sighed. There was just no winning with her.

000

Five days later and the ship was patched up. The crew knew that they would have to get back to the Caribbean soon though, they needed certain things that they could only get there but they knew that they would be fine as they crossed the Atlantic. Things went back to normal, Brannagh mopped and talked to Ana while Jack was at the helm, except this time, and everyone noticed this fact, the crew spoke more to Brannagh than usual. Some of them even threw a few jokes at her, making her feel like a part of the crew. Things were looking up again and it was a nice feeling.

Half way into the voyage, Brannagh got frustrated, before the whole Greece scenario she had been driven over the edge by thinking about Jack but once Evan had returned, all thoughts flew out the window, along with Jack and Brannagh themselves. But now Evan was gone out of her life, again, and she was back to thinking about the pirate, again. She had told herself that she wasn't going to do anything, she kissed him, so what? He had done it too. She didn't want to be a friend that had benefits but she didn't want to chase. She didn't want to chase because, firstly, it seemed like a whore-ish and desperate thing to do and, secondly, she didn't even know if she loved him. He had admitted to that weird feeling that she had had but how did they know that it was love? They didn't have a clue; they hadn't been down this road before. It was strange for it to happen around someone that she had been best friends with growing up, yet in a way it seemed a bit predictable. They knew how the other one ticked and that was one of the things that kept them going. Brannagh knew how much fighting that her own parents had done and she hated it, it put her off the idea of relationships, but she still believed that relationships needed a little bit of conflict, that people needed to rub off of each other every once in a while because it would just get boring if they just agreed and laid down and took orders. Jack and Brannagh fought, not in the way that her parents did, there were no fists involved. She actually enjoyed debating and arguing and both of them were equally stubborn but they also knew when enough was enough so one of them didn't win every time. They shared the feeling of victory.

The man would infuriate her one second and make her legs feel like jelly the next, it was ridiculous. She was back to square one, only now it was a little worse, seeing as he would try to check up on her more often, as if Evan would swim into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and kidnap her with no ship for back up. Evan was stupid, but he wasn't _that_ stupid, well that and he couldn't swim.

Jack had been thinking the same thing, if he tried to stop thinking about it all he would fail, it never really helped when the person you were thinking about was standing right in front of you. He hadn't felt empty or any of that cheesiness when she was gone, he had learned to get on with it, especially when he had other things to think about, suck as cursed treasure and mutinous first mates. Yet he still felt...complete wasn't the word, he was fuller...no that wasn't the word either. He never really felt a reason to show off in front of her, whether she knew when he was lying or not. She knew him when no one else really did, except maybe for Teague but it wasn't like they met up everyday.

With the thought of his father, Jack began to think of Shipwreck Island. Brannagh had said that she never went back because she didn't think that she could do it. But if she could tell him the honest truth about her past, jump out a window with him and put him in his place, like she so often did, perhaps she could face it if he were with her. The sooner she got over the fear the better and Jack was sure that Teague would like to see her again. He had approved of her, in fact he was probably one of the only few people that approved of the two of them being friends, seeing as the old pirate didn't believe in separating children, especially when they _were_ children. Brannagh liked him, she saw him more as a father figure than she had with her own father and he had been nice to her. Looking back, Jack wondered if Teague had suspected what had been going on in Brannaghs house at the time.

If Jack told Brannagh that they were heading to Shipwreck Island she may not take it well, but if he did it to surprise her, she may kill him. What if he said that they _needed_ to go there? She couldn't necessarily back out. The voyage was nearly over by now; they would be in the Caribbean in two days, courtesy of having one of the fastest ships in the world.

He had it! Jack would stop off at one of the islands first and say that he had to look for certain things for the ship and then say that he either couldn't find them or that they were a rip off, thus saying that they _needed_ to go to Shipwreck. It was pure genius!

He wanted Brannagh to go, and he was going to make her do it, she needed to.

000

Five day later and they were docked at Port Juan. It felt good to finally be at home. The hustle and bustle of the stalls and markets were a comfort to Brannagh, as they walked through town. She had gone to town with Ana to look around while Jack went to look for certain things he said he needed for the ship. She didn't press the matter. She knew how to sail a ship, not the names or code phrases. She was still happy to stretch her legs and see things that weren't the Pearl. She loved it and all, but she needed a break. She knew Jack adored his ship but she was pretty sure that even _he_ needed a break sometimes, even if it was to stock up on the rum, which she was pretty sure was lessening faster than usual, thanks to her.

Brannagh and Ana were just after leaving a tavern and were on their way back to said ship. Ana was still hell bent on getting at least the tiniest bit of dirt on her Captain and Brannagh was still keeping her mouth shut.

"Oh come on" Ana pleaded, "Anything!"

"Nope"

"I bet he has dirt on you too"

"And I bet he'll keep his mouth shut too!"

"Not if he hears that you've spread a truth about him"

"A truth which he would demand to hear!" Brannagh sang back to her friend.

"Ugh...Touché"

Brannagh laughed, bemused at Ana's disappointment. "Mean" she muttered. Brannagh knew that she wasn't being serious and tried to hold back a laugh so she settled for grinning instead. No matter how hard Ana tried, Brannagh would never spill the beans. As they walked through the street Brannagh kept feeling unnerved, even though she knew that Ana was right beside her so nothing could happen. She passed it off as nerves, after all no one really gets over being taken away like that and then going to escape, only to be shot at. She wasn't going to allow her thoughts to drag her down like that and instead brushed them aside, ignoring the feeling. Ana was still walking along beside her, looking as if nothing had happened. It made Brannagh feel sillier now. If anything _had_ been watching her, a skilled pirate like Ana would definitely have sensed something.

They were standing by the docks in no time and Ana recognized one of the men who were fixing the nets. She went over to talk to him, leaving Brannagh on her own. They were still in each others line of view but Brannagh felt a bit uncomfortable just standing there and she didn't want to pressurize Ana into talking quickly just so Brannagh could feel comfortable so she went back to the ship, to the rest of the crew.

As she walked up the gangplank, she got that feeling again that she had felt in the street, like someone was watching her. She ignored it again, if anyone was following her, they were stupid to try and get to her, especially when she was on one of the most pirate ships of all time.

**Sorry if this chapter bored you. And sorry if you feel as if this will just be caught up in one big loop but I guarantee you, every villain has a boss...like how the flying monkeys were working for the Wicked Witch. Please review ;)**


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